mercredi 30 mars 2016

Vegetarian, Kosher, Halal MRE, And Space Food

By Daniel Reed


Meals, Ready to Eat, are self-contained field rations used in the United States armed forces. They are specially packaged and carefully formulated. To accommodate the various dietary and religious needs of the consumers, special meals, including Kosher, vegetarian, and Halal MRE are available.

To be suitable for use in combat by soldiers, snipers, special forces, and other members of the military, there are certain strict requirements regarding the menus, packaging, and accessories in a single ration pack. Because there has to be a compromise between these regulations and the delectability of the meals, they are humorously known as "Meals Resembling Edibles, " "Morsels, Regurgitated, Eviscerated, " and "Meal Ready to Expel, " to name a few of the more polite colloquialisms.

The contents of a ration pack for a single generally consist of an entree, a second course, and a dessert. It would also be likely to contain crackers or a roll with peanut butter and jam or other spread. To keep the weight of the pack down to a manageable level, beverages are, by necessity, powdered. A pack might have coffee or tea or a powdered cold beverage. Seasonings (salt, pepper, ketchup, etc.) are often included as is a packet of after-dinner chewing gum.

The non-edible component contains a spoon, a bag for preparing the beverage, and something for personal hygiene, like a napkin or moist towelette. Waterproof matches are thrown in. Also essential is a flameless heater to bring the temperature of the meal to an acceptable level for palatability and food safety.

Ration packs need to be able to accommodate individuals' dietary and religious preferences. To this end, it is possible to get Kosher, Halal, and vegetarian MREs. Air crews also have specific needs, such as the need to be able to eat while on the go, without utensils, and in confined spaces. For consumers living and working in extremely cold conditions, where ordinary rations might freeze, even with the FRH, the Meal, Cold Weather relies on freeze-dried food that is reconstituted with water.

Ration packs are made that cater for Muslims, that is, Halal food, and those that follow Judaisim (Kosher food). Meat derived from pigs, such as ham, bacon, and pork, is forbidden according to Islamic Shariah law. The practice of Halal also covers things like drugs and make-up.

Pork is also prohibited under Kosher dietary requirements observed by Jewish people. This dates back to Jacob, the patriarch of the twelve Israelite tribes, who damaged his hip joint in an all-night wrestling match with an angel. To this day, Jews avoid eating pork. Both Kosher and Halal regimes have specific regulations concerning the way the animals are slaughtered.

In space, the lack of gravity imposes certain restrictions on what is suitable for human consumption. Eating bread poses challenges, for instance, as Gus Grissom found to his cost when he tried to eat a sandwich onboard Gemini II. Also, for some reason, taste buds are suppressed in outer space, so efforts have to be made to spice things up.




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