US Army Invents Virtually Immortal Pizza

I’m sure many of you have eaten a pizza that wasn’t exactly fresh, personally I think my upper limit was around the 46 hour mark and even that it was a decision based on being tired, hungry, drunk and an abundance of left over pizza being available. So can you imagine eating a three year old pizza? Well thanks to a few tweaks to the basic recipe, the US Army have created a pizza that doesn’t spoil anywhere near as quick as fresh pizza.

US service men and women have to survive on what is known as ready To Eat (RTE) meals when in the field, especially in areas without field kitchens and other supplies, but it is very difficult to create food that can be stored in small enough packets that doesn’t spoil, as some of these supplies may have to undergo extreme temperature changes or remain stored for years at a time prior to eating.

Jill Bates, who runs the lab, said “It pretty much tastes just like a typical pan pizza that you would make at home and take out of the oven or the toaster oven,” she said. “The only thing missing from that experience would be it’s not hot when you eat it. It’s room temperature.”

Pizza has been a long request for many who have to survive on RTE and now it looks like the US Army’s Natick Soldier Research , Development and Engineering Center has solved the problem. It’s taken two years to find an ingredient that can trap moisture, keeping the dough fresh without spoiling the food. It should keep for at least three years and even survive in 80 degree head until consumed.

Thank you Huffington for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of Huffington.