In 2019, the World Food Programme (WPF), a United Nations humanitarian organization, distributed food to very needy people in Uganda. In March 2019, a major food-poisoning incident occurred in one region of the country, followed by a second outbreak, which occurred in a refugee camp in a completely different area in Uganda. In the first outbreak five people died and hundreds were hospitalized.
In both regions, the WFP had distributed what’s known as Specialized Nutritious Foods (SNFs), which are used to combat malnutrition and given to vulnerable populations such as infants, adolescent girls and nursing mothers in developing countries. It was thought that one of these SNFs, a fortified soya and corn product called “Super Cereal,” might have been the source of both outbreaks of foodborne illness. Super Cereal typically contains corn or wheat blended with soy beans, fortified with vitamins and minerals and processed into 25-kg bags of flour.