Pizza Will Now Be Available To Soldiers: Natick Research Center

NATICK, MA—Doesn't matter where a soldier is; he or she will now be able to enjoy a slice of pizza pie wherever they may be.

The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick has been developing a Meal, Ready-to-Eat pepperoni pizza that will be prepared for worldwide distribution. According to Natick Soldier research, soldiers have been asking for this MRE since the 1980s.

Why'd it take so long? Well, in 2012 some major advancements in food technology allowed the scientists to do so. Now, meals with a shelf life of three and a half years can be created.

"The real trick is to get bread, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni inside of a pouch, happily together for at least three years," said Jeremy Whitsitt, CFD's deputy director, in a statement. "With each of those individual components on their own, we can achieve the shelf life, but when you put them together -- chemistry happens. All these components are interacting. You have four very distinct food matrices all interacting with each other, which can cause some unwanted results. That's why developing a shelf-stable pizza has been so hard."

The manufacturing was challenging, and scientists could make a viable prototype in a laboratory, but turning it into large scale production was a hurdle.

Read the full story from The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Photo via U.S. Army