How The Military Made A Pizza That Lasts For Years Without Spoiling

Not all pizza is created equal, but when it comes to military meals or MREs (Meal, Ready-To-Eat), having any pizza at all is considered a bit of a luxury. Because of the extreme conditions soldiers can find themselves in, MREs not only need to last for 36 months but also withstand temperatures up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the absence of any type of refrigeration. Creating a pizza that can withstand these requirements is something the military has been trying to make happen for over a decade now. After considerable back and forth with food scientists, it seems they have finally cracked the code. 

So, how exactly did they do it? The pizza was created through a method called hurdle technology, which basically uses a combination of processes to create barriers that preserve food and inhibit microbial growth. Heat treatment and dehydration are a couple of methods scientists use in order to make MREs shelf-stable. Specifically for pizza, some of the work included careful control of the pH level of the sauce and strictly regulating water and oxygen levels inside the package. After testing out the shelf life of the slices by placing them in a 100-degree Fahrenheit chamber for six months (meant to simulate 36 months at 80 degrees Fahrenheit), it was happily determined that the pizza was ready to be consumed by soldiers. 

Pizza was a culinary pipe dream for soldiers for so long because of the challenge of bringing very different components together to make the whole. "It has sauce, cheese, pepperoni. And then it has the crust. And they have different amounts of water," Michelle Richardson, a food scientist who helped make the pizza, shared in an interview with NPR. "Water likes to move and be equal in all parts. So if you had a crust that has a little bit of water and you put sauce on it that has a lot of water, then the water from the sauce is going to move to the crust, making it soggy," she explained.

Even under ideal circumstances, it's easy to make mistakes that will leave you with soggy pizza dough. Through careful trial and error of water levels, the MRE pizza was able to be made in a way that maintained a texture similar to a regular slice of pizza, though of course, nothing can compare to that first takeout pie after training or a long overseas assignment. 

Fortunately, the MRE pepperoni does get some decent reviews, and considering it lasts for years and comes in a lightweight bag that easily fits into military clothing pockets, it's pretty impressive overall. The individual slices of pizza come with flameless ration heaters, so soldiers can heat up their pepperoni pizza to recreate a normal Friday night, or just eat them cold and reminisce about leftover pizza for breakfast. Either way, they get the fleeting comfort of enjoying a slice, far from home.