Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) “have developed a fully cooked food-aid product called Instant Corn Soy Blend [ICSB] that supplements meals, particularly for young children,” a USDA news story reports (Bliss, 8/4).

ICSB has been designated by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency “as a supplemental food for emergency rations, displaced-persons assistance, and as a weaning food in maternal and child health programs and other programs,” according to Agricultural Research magazine (Bliss, August 2011). In addition to being used in food emergencies, ICSB “could also soon be purchased for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service-administered McGovern–Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which provides U.S. agricultural products for school feeding and other projects in more than 30 countries,” according to the news story (8/4).