{"id":43570,"date":"2018-02-21T21:56:16","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T21:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/21\/its-official-the-pizza-mre-is-back\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:12:16","slug":"its-official-the-pizza-mre-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/02\/21\/its-official-the-pizza-mre-is-back\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s official: The pizza MRE is back!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Holy Grail of downrange eating is becoming a reality after last year\u2019s news that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/global-force-symposium\/2017\/03\/13\/pizza-mre-the-holy-grail-of-downrange-eating-gets-delayed-indefinitely\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">pizza MRE<\/a> was facing an indefinite delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Meal, Ready-to-Eat was slated for MRE No. 38, which is set to roll out this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly a year ago, in March 2017, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/off-duty\/2016\/04\/14\/combat-candy-as-m-ms-turn-75-a-look-at-sweets-in-service\/\">Combat Feeding Directorate<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2016\/12\/03\/the-army-is-developing-comfortable-flame-resistant-wool-for-its-combat-uniforms\/\">Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center<\/a> said there was a problem with mass production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2016\/12\/10\/burrito-bowls-meat-sticks-and-more-are-coming-to-your-mres-in-2017\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\">Meals, Ready-to-Eat<\/a> must have a shelf life of at least three years when stored at 80 degrees or below, but during testing, the pizza MRE had turned brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To simulate a three-year span, MREs are placed in a 100-degree box for six months. The lab-made pizza could withstand the life cycle, but farming out the production to industry at a larger scale triggered the delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The browning wasn\u2019t a safety issue, but more of a quality issue, officials said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to make sure we give [troops] a quality product,\u201d Natick spokesman David Accetta told Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Julie Smith, a senior food technologist at the Combat Feeding Directorate, said the tomato sauce was turning brown, so they tweaked the formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fix? Adding rosemary extract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oxidation causes the sauce to turn brown, but the rosemary extract prevents that from happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accetta emphasized that MREs aren\u2019t full of preservatives or chemicals, but that it\u2019s the processing and packaging that gives them their three-year shelf life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There might have been a way to solve the pizza problems sooner by using chemicals, but CFD wanted to use natural alternatives, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pizza MREs will arrive at the Defense Logistics Agency in March, Smith told Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soldiers will likely being seeing the pizza by the end of the year. Different installations and units will receive new MRE cases depending on how many they already have and how they\u2019re issued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s first in, first out,\u201d Smith said about how DLA chooses which MRE cases to ship out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Combat Feeding Directorate is starting with pepperoni pizza, but Accetta said troop feedback could influence varieties in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey may say they want more pizza or a different kind of pizza,\u201d he said, using plain cheese and vegetarian varieties as examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CFD team wanted the pizza to be a success, and they didn\u2019t want to roll it out too early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause the pizza was so widely requested, we tried to accelerate the timeline,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPeople got excited about it, but in the end, we wanted to make sure we got it right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2017\/08\/14\/mres-for-civilians-amazon-will-soon-start-selling-ready-to-eat-chow\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635871553706943714-4844429998-eaf189707f-ojpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">MREs for civilians?! Amazon will soon start selling ready-to-eat chow<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The infamous Meal Refusing to Exit \u2014 er \u2026 Meal, Ready to Eat \u2014 is coming to Amazon.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Beyond pizza<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If pizza isn\u2019t your thing, beef goulash is on the menu for 2019. MRE No. 39 will offer beef goulash and beef strips in a savory tomato-based sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019ll have to say goodbye to Asian-style beef strips with vegetables and the beef brisket, though. Those MREs ranked lowest in troop feedback, which included feedback from a 2016 field test at Fort Carson, Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Combat Feeding Directorate was looking for replacements for lower-ranking beef entrees, based on average ratings from the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"794\" height=\"1121\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/goulash-mre.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/goulash-mre.jpg.jpg 794w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/goulash-mre.jpg.jpg?resize=212,300 212w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/goulash-mre.jpg.jpg?resize=768,1084 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/goulash-mre.jpg.jpg?resize=725,1024 725w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Beef goulash is scheduled to be on the MRE menu for 2019. (Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers at the Combat Feeding Directorate took this feedback back to the Natick center in Massachusetts to analyze the data and soldier responses. Natick, however, is not a decision authority, so a Joint Services Operational Rations Forum meets every February with representatives from each service. They discuss the findings and decide which new MRE menus to roll out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At this year\u2019s forum on Feb. 7, the team gave the green light for new food choices in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MRE Menu No. 40 is set to bring a new meal plus a bunch of snacks to troops in training and overseas in 2020:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Italian Sausage in Marinara Sauce<\/li><li>High Protein Pudding, Chocolate<br><\/li><li>Recovery Crunchy O Shaped Snack<br><\/li><li>BBQ flavored Recovery Beef Jerky Trail Mix<\/li><li>Sweet and Spicy Recovery Salted Caramel Rice and Soy Crisp Bar<\/li><li>Chocolate Hazelnut Protein Smoothie<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a Natick spokesman, the \u201crecovery items really show the emphasis on soldier readiness and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each MRE provides about 1,260 calories, and its durable packaging allows it to be safely airdropped by parachute from 100 feet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The long-awaited pepperoni pizza will be on its way to troops later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2954],"class_list":["post-43570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XN26UJHYOVF7TMJ5ON5TNH2ICQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2018\/02\/21\/its-official-the-pizza-mre-is-back\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>It&#039;s official: The pizza MRE is back! - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The long-awaited pepperoni pizza will be on its way to troops later this year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/02\/21\/its-official-the-pizza-mre-is-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It&#039;s official: The pizza MRE is back!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The long-awaited pepperoni pizza will be on its way to troops later this year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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