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US Military Creates Indestructible Sandwich
Spudley writes "They're capable of surviving airdrops and extreme climates, and able to stay fresh for over 3 years, and the US military wants them to supplement their existing battlefield rations. The article predicts they'll eventually make it to the grocery store too. Apparently, soldiers who tried the pepperoni and barbecue-chicken pocket sandwiches have found them "acceptable"."
Wasnt April 1st like 10 days ago... A Little late.
"All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
no need to freeze, no need to microwave, frozen microwave pizza-flavored hot pockets!
yum.
moox. for a new generation.
Most food I ate in the military was officially considerd delicious (edible if you are hungry) or very good (tastes like dog food). If they told the press that the food is acceptable, I cannot fathom how disgusting this must be... shudder.
Scientist - "So, how do you like these new sandwiches?"
Tired Grunt - "These taste like absolute shit, the only reason I'm eating this is because I haven't eaten all day and I'm hungry as hell."
Scientist jots down "acceptable".
The feeling of BBC Radio Five Live this morning was that acceptable probably meant "edible, but flavourless".
Also, the likelihood is that these will eventually become consumer items too (freeze dried coffee started as a military solution)
Listening for the sound of the coming rain...
GTRacer
- Egg McMuffilicious!
Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
Safer food!
Ahh, leave it to Monty Python to predict this 30 years ago!
http://www.montypython.net/scripts/cycling.php
not only can you stock up on canned food in your bomb or storm shelter - but also canned sandwiches!
This
In general, I don't like processed foods because they don't seem to be as healthy. But I believe that these premade sandwiches should save people a lot of money, because they don't need to throw out food as much, and also, we don't have to waste time making our own sandwiches.
We apparently like the instant foods a lot, and can't be as bad as some make it out to be. As mentioned in the article, they invented freeze dried coffee, and that cheese.
Pizza pockets are cool, but I for the average person popping a frozen pizza pop into the microwave isn't that hard.
testing out my trending skills
Normally, I think "News for Nerds" is a pretty broad spectrum of subjects...but aren't we reaching a little on this one?
This is good news because it isn't that good for you to subsist on nothing but Twinkies.
--MarkusQ
I don't care how advanced the processing of food gets you'll never replace Ramen noodles. Every geek on Slashdot knows where I'm talking about. If not for them, coffee, and beer most of the people who consider themselves Slashdotters would have died from starvation a long time ago. it's the only food that costs like 10-15 cents a pack =]
I haven't found MREs to be all that objectionable. The thing to remember is that you don't eat them when you're staying in a five star hotel, just as you wouldn't sleep on the ground or catch rain water to drink. Conversely, you don't haul an espresso machine and a queen sized bed on your back for fifty miles just so you'll have "all the comforts" at the end of the day.
If you think in terms of food quality per Kg hauled (and remember that it's frequently you that's going to be doing the hauling), MREs are great--much better than trying to scrounge for twigs and berries, or going hungry.
--MarkusQ
"They're capable of surviving airdrops and extreme climates, and able to stay fresh for over 3 years, and the US military wants them to supplement their existing battlefield rations. The article predicts they'll eventually make it to the grocery store too. Apparently, soldiers who tried the pepperoni and barbecue-chicken pocket sandwiches have found them "acceptable"."
So if they're capable of surviving all that trauma and still able to "keep fresh", I have to wonder if they're not too durable.
Like, for example, if, after being eaten, the chewed up sandwich comes out the other end looking essentially the same as when it went down the esophagous.
My guideline: if bugs and bacteria don't like to eat something, then it's probably not meant for human consumption, either.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
"able to stay fresh for over 3 years"
I'm assuming the term "fresh" is used only relative to the current rations, and not to, say, fresh pizza?
Ok, I must first say that I am not in the military but I've had my fair share of MRE's. Best friend in the Army that's why I got them, he thinks they taste like shit. He lives on Copenhagen, Red Man and Mt. Dew in the field. I'm actually looking forward to these. I camp alot and these thing would be great for avid hikers/campers that want to eat on the go and don't want to spend $5 a pop for some high energy bar. Not to mention these would also be good for humanatarian missions where we (USA) drops in food rations to the locals. Just my $.02(non refundable) on this one.
"If a quarter is two bits, then a dollar's a byte." -R Deric Miller
I am not a soldier, but I find MREs wonderful for certain kinds of activity (long bike rides, a few days' camping). They're vastly preferable to freeze-dried food (which are still lighter, since they have no water, and are the only option for long-term use unless you want live off the land.)
You don't eat 'em until you're hungry, and then they're very filling, which is all you want. And they don't taste nearly as bad as the jokes I've read so far here. They're actually quite tasty. Hardly haute cuisine, but at least as good as most American fast food. That may not seem like praise, but you've seen the numbers in which people scarf that up.
The single coolest thing about them is the heater packs. They come with bags containing a sheet of some chemical which reacts with water to give off a LOT of heat (and hydrogen gas). They're capable of taking food from frozen to too-hot-to-eat in a few minutes, without building a fire. Nothing makes a cold, miserable person happier faster than hot food.
The second coolest thing is the mini-bottles of Tabasco sauce.
It's supposed to be under "science" so why is everybody asking how it tastes ?
We should be asking ourselves... what would happen if an indestructible sandwich travelling at very high speed were to meet another indestructible sandwich travelling at the same speed ??
You can try ordering from this company: Longlifefood.com
The "variety pack is roughly $20 USD. Another must buy is a pack of chemical heaters. They look like a plastic bag with flat, metal brillo pad. Stick in the the MRE, put in a little water, and boy does that package get hot! Shipping costs are bundled into the price of each item, and the company puts a 20% discount on the final price. They end up costing slightly more than a TV dinner, and they taste about as good as one. They don't need refrigeration and are great for extended camping trips.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
I was an Army brat and my mother was a horrible cook, so whenever I got to eat in the officers mess, or dad brought home some MRE's or whatever it was one hell of a treat. Nothing beats SOS for breakfast in the morning.
Meal, Ready-to-Eat" (MRE)
Also known as "Meals Rejected by the Enemy", "Mice and Rats are Editable", and "Meal, Ready-to-Eat: Three lies in one."
"...if you've got to keep the buggers fresh, do it by washing 'em once a week."
Maybe these will find their niche in English train depots?
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Does the Army still put saltpeter in the MRE's? About 10 years ago, one of my roommates brought some MRE's home from the Base. We ate all of them and found ourselves needing Viagra. No one went on any dates that week.
This isn't news. Back in my highschool days the lunch ladys dished these up every Wednesday. Oh sure it had different names but I think we all knew what it was.
Waffle house is the gem of ths south. I moved down from NY and just love WH. And in georgia they have one like every couple miles, sorta like the frequency of bagel shops and pizza places back on the island.
For some reason no on else likes the stuff down here. Oh well more cheap waffles for me.
Veramocor
because that's *FUCKING DISGUSTING*. I'm inspired to learn jsut what that stuff does to your body.... an intersting 'experiment' in food processing, but edible, i think not....
-shpoffo
Indescructible sandwiches? British Airways has been doing them for years...
A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist...
I find them for less than eight cents a pack, and if they're at ten, they're friggin' expensive!
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
And everywhere the language went, it was a total loss...
I think I've already seen the indestructible sandwich, in an English pub. I made the mistake of buying one. It tasted like left-over emergency rations from World War II.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
No, MREs certainly are not FRESH after 3 years. They're not even fresh right off of the production line. Edible (barely), yes.
(* Why not eat your enemies it would give you incentive to kill kill kill !!! *)
Because you risk getting equiv of Mad Cow desease. You cannot cook it out because it is a protien and not a virus.
It probably would not hurt if a few did it, but if done as policy, it would eventually catch up to us.
Table-ized A.I.
(* what would happen if an indestructible sandwich travelling at very high speed were to meet another indestructible sandwich travelling at the same speed ?? *)
I think you are thinking about an *anti-sandwich* colliding with it.
Hey, a new weapon?
Table-ized A.I.
Hopefully whatever weird chemicals they've stuffed in this sandwich to make it take three years to start rotting won't cause something like Gulf War Syndrome.
They ALL smell like dog food. The damned Army at least has the money and wherewithal (and general softness) to helicopter hot, fresh food to their troops (don't argue with me on this one, I saw it firstand, in Kosovo of all places; chow via blackhawk).
Thankfully they on't make the ham-slice anymore, nor the chicken a-la king, or even the freeze dried peaches.
Typically, about half the MRE's I get issued get stuffed in a cardboard box in my wall locker; the rest eaten, supplemented by a handy-dandy backpacker's shaker of spices. The ones that get saved get sold at gun shows. people pay a lot of money for those damned things, even more for the newer ones that come in the light tan package.
The now defunct British Rail invented these years ago.
:-)
Now used a ballast under the tracks