Posted on Dec 10, 2016
Burrito bowls, meat sticks and more are coming to your MREs in 2017
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If you’ve ever craved Chipotle while out in the field, 2017 might be your year.
A new Meal, Ready-to-Eat set to debut in 2017 will feature a chicken burrito bowl entree, according to officials with the Army’s Combat Feeding Directorate.
The mix of chicken, rice, chili peppers and beans will be in a flexible pouch similar to a commercial tuna pouch, said Julie Smith, senior food technologist at CFD, part of the Natick Soldier, Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts.
The burrito bowl MRE will also have a trail mix that contains pretzels, peanuts, cashews and almonds. Smith said the mix offers a 3-to-1 carb-to-protein ratio that will aid in the warfighter’s recovery. A teriyaki meat stick will be included as an alternative to beef jerky.
“Typically, when we do evaluations, we get feedback from the war fighter that they want to have more beef jerky varieties,” Smith said. “It’s such a high sodium item, however, that we have to be careful in how to include it in the menu.”
The teriyaki meat stick provides that lower sodium option, she said.
The chicken burrito bowl, or MRE No. 38, will be produced in January, with assembly around February or March. After that, it’s up to each installation to decide when they receive the MREs, depending on how many they already have and how they’re issued.
The Combat Feeding Directorate takes troops’ input into account when creating new menus. With the popularity of fast-casual Mexican restaurants such as Chipotle, service members recommended a burrito bowl during testing last year.
The long-awaited pepperoni pizza MRE is slated for 2018.
MREs were introduced in the early 1980s as a replacement for the C-ration, according to the Army. Since 1993, more than 270 new items have been added to the rations, along with the flameless ration heater and ergonomic beverage pouches.
Each MRE provides about 1,260 calories, and its durable packaging allows it to be safely airdropped by parachute from 100 feet.
Smith said sometimes items are removed from MRE menus because troops have simply become bored with them.
“They’re sick of the same entrée,” she said. “So we see which items are trending down that might need to be removed.”
In 2016, the Army added elbow macaroni in tomato sauce, creamy spinach fettucine, chocolate protein drink powder and crushed red pepper flakes to its MREs. It cut spicy penne pasta, ratatouille and ground red pepper flakes.
Next year, plans call for the Army to cut the pork rib, chicken pesto pasta, fried rice, wheat snack bread, turkey nuggets, raisin nut mix, fudge brownie and Ranger bar options from its menu.
In July, there was a weeklong field test to gather feedback from 200 soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado. The soldiers ate from control menus as well as four new test menus — each menu included a survey where the taste tester could rate how much he or she liked each of the items.
The test items included: hearty beef stew, beef in sauce, braised beef with pasta, a pita pocket, a chocolate First Strike bar with blueberry, Chipotle beef jerky, and a strawberry-banana dairy shake with Tyrosine.
They are being tested for potential inclusion in MRE No. 39, which would be released in 2019, according to Britni Roy, a food technologist at Natick. Feedback from the test is currently being analyzed, she said.
Taking the soldiers' feedback, researchers at the Combat Feeding Directorate return to the Natick center in Massachusetts to analyze the data and soldier responses. Natick, however, is not a decision authority, so a joint services forum is held where representatives from each service can discuss the findings every February. It takes about 18 months from approval for a new MRE menu to become reality.
The roughly 1,200-calorie meals must meet strict nutritional guidelines, as well as maintain a shelf life of about three years at 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Charlsy Panzino covers the Guard and Reserve, training, technology, operations and features for Army Times and Air Force Times. Email her at [login to see] .
A new Meal, Ready-to-Eat set to debut in 2017 will feature a chicken burrito bowl entree, according to officials with the Army’s Combat Feeding Directorate.
The mix of chicken, rice, chili peppers and beans will be in a flexible pouch similar to a commercial tuna pouch, said Julie Smith, senior food technologist at CFD, part of the Natick Soldier, Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts.
The burrito bowl MRE will also have a trail mix that contains pretzels, peanuts, cashews and almonds. Smith said the mix offers a 3-to-1 carb-to-protein ratio that will aid in the warfighter’s recovery. A teriyaki meat stick will be included as an alternative to beef jerky.
“Typically, when we do evaluations, we get feedback from the war fighter that they want to have more beef jerky varieties,” Smith said. “It’s such a high sodium item, however, that we have to be careful in how to include it in the menu.”
The teriyaki meat stick provides that lower sodium option, she said.
The chicken burrito bowl, or MRE No. 38, will be produced in January, with assembly around February or March. After that, it’s up to each installation to decide when they receive the MREs, depending on how many they already have and how they’re issued.
The Combat Feeding Directorate takes troops’ input into account when creating new menus. With the popularity of fast-casual Mexican restaurants such as Chipotle, service members recommended a burrito bowl during testing last year.
The long-awaited pepperoni pizza MRE is slated for 2018.
MREs were introduced in the early 1980s as a replacement for the C-ration, according to the Army. Since 1993, more than 270 new items have been added to the rations, along with the flameless ration heater and ergonomic beverage pouches.
Each MRE provides about 1,260 calories, and its durable packaging allows it to be safely airdropped by parachute from 100 feet.
Smith said sometimes items are removed from MRE menus because troops have simply become bored with them.
“They’re sick of the same entrée,” she said. “So we see which items are trending down that might need to be removed.”
In 2016, the Army added elbow macaroni in tomato sauce, creamy spinach fettucine, chocolate protein drink powder and crushed red pepper flakes to its MREs. It cut spicy penne pasta, ratatouille and ground red pepper flakes.
Next year, plans call for the Army to cut the pork rib, chicken pesto pasta, fried rice, wheat snack bread, turkey nuggets, raisin nut mix, fudge brownie and Ranger bar options from its menu.
In July, there was a weeklong field test to gather feedback from 200 soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado. The soldiers ate from control menus as well as four new test menus — each menu included a survey where the taste tester could rate how much he or she liked each of the items.
The test items included: hearty beef stew, beef in sauce, braised beef with pasta, a pita pocket, a chocolate First Strike bar with blueberry, Chipotle beef jerky, and a strawberry-banana dairy shake with Tyrosine.
They are being tested for potential inclusion in MRE No. 39, which would be released in 2019, according to Britni Roy, a food technologist at Natick. Feedback from the test is currently being analyzed, she said.
Taking the soldiers' feedback, researchers at the Combat Feeding Directorate return to the Natick center in Massachusetts to analyze the data and soldier responses. Natick, however, is not a decision authority, so a joint services forum is held where representatives from each service can discuss the findings every February. It takes about 18 months from approval for a new MRE menu to become reality.
The roughly 1,200-calorie meals must meet strict nutritional guidelines, as well as maintain a shelf life of about three years at 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Charlsy Panzino covers the Guard and Reserve, training, technology, operations and features for Army Times and Air Force Times. Email her at [login to see] .
Burrito bowls, meat sticks and more are coming to your MREs in 2017
Posted from armytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Food/Chow
Food/Chow
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 7
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WOW they keep making new ones, I remember my first Battalion after Boot camp, I joined them as they were starting deployment in Okinawa.I had never been on deployment or even on a FEX and we did what was called a deployed FEX. We had the old Brown MRE's and they only had 8 choices and did not have heaters they have now, that was 1989. In Desert Shield Storm is when we got the second Gen MRE's light Brown bag like the ones now, but they still didn't have heaters,Marines had heat tabs though. You need to watch out for them MRE bombs when troops have nothing to do.
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It's come a long way since the five fingers of death and the dehydrated pork puck. People really had a love hate relationship with MRE menus through the years, polarizing almost. Chicken ala King got a bad urban legend hitched to it and it went away. Beef Stew was consistent. You would kick your own mother's ass for some MRE peanut butter. The shakes were good if you had access to cold water, otherwise they were like drinking a warm bucket of hamster vomit. Anything with tuna sucked, tuna with noodles looking at you. People hated country captain chicken, which I looked forward to if I had quality time with an MRE heater, or could leave it on a vehicle heater for a while. A long time favorite was the chicken with Cavatellie. The attempt at a hamburger was interesting and a valian effort by our friends in Natick. The breakfast MREs were a little before their time, and pretty nasty if Cold, or had a chemical after taste if 'potatoes' were contained in the egg-ish mix. The different pound cakes were great, screw the people who voted them down.
You have to admire things they tried while beating copywriters and trade marks. pan coated disks as an example. Remember getting M&Ms from the 1996 olympics ten years later?
You have to admire things they tried while beating copywriters and trade marks. pan coated disks as an example. Remember getting M&Ms from the 1996 olympics ten years later?
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