What is an MRE?

★ wanayoo — archive 1999 http://howstuffworks.com/question119.htm

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Question

I've seen how the Army's food now comes in plastic pouches called MREs. Is this real food? How does it taste?

Answer

MRE stands for "Meal, Ready to Eat". An MRE comes in a plastic pouch that is called retort packaging. The package is actually aluminum foil and plastic layered together.

An MRE pouch contains normal food. For example, it might contain chili or beef stew. The food is pre-cooked, put into the pouch and sealed. Then the pouch and the food it contains is sterilized by heating it. Since the pouch is sealed the food stays fresh for a long time. This is no different from metal or glass canning - the food in a can is sterilized by heat in a sealed container, so bacteria cannot get in and spoil it. Think of retort packaging as a flexible can. The food tastes no different from normal canned chili or beef stew.

Retort packaging is also used for a variety of drinks. When you see a drink in a flexible pouch, it is usually the same technology used to create MREs.

Interesting links:

MRE Information
The Wornick Company - manufacturer of MREs
How Food Preservation Works

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