Military Developing New Menu Options, Packaging For Meals Ready-To-Eat

New MRE (Meals Ready-to-Eat) options, as well as more efficient packaging, are currently in development by the United States military, reports The Army Times.

Packaging innovations include the incorporation of nanotechnology to make items more airtight and lighter materials for easier transport. These new methods will be tested to see if they are capable of keeping food fresher and safer, as well as whether the packaging is able to retain vital nutrients better than older versions

"After further demonstration and validation work, we will know if these materials have acceptable performance to be considered for incorporation into ration packaging for the warfighter," announced Dr. Jo Ann Ratto, team leader for the advanced materials engineering team at the Combat Feeding Directorate.

In 2016, the military is also expected to introduce new MREs, including macaroni in tomato sauce, spinach fettuccine, a chocolate protein drink powder, and crushed red pepper. A long-awaited pepperoni pizza MRE is in progress, but is not expected to be readily available until 2017 at the earliest.