Pizza that could last for 3 years? It's for soldiers in the field

Pizza that could last for 3 years? It’s for soldiers in the field

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A slice of prototype pizza, in development to be used in military MREs (meals ready to eat), is shown in its packet with a smaller, freshness-keeping packet known as an oxygen scavenger. The pizza is being developed at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

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A packet containing a slice of prototype pizza. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

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Researchers, from left, Mary Scerra, Priscilla Bitopoulos and Lauren Pecukonis prepare prototype pizzas in a kitchen at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

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Food technologist Michelle Richardson looks into an oven where prototype pizzas cook in a research kitchen. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

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Food technologist Tom Yang cuts a prototype pizza. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

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Prototype pizza slices in their packets, before being sealed. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

By Jenn Harris

Feb. 17, 2014 9:52 AM PT

When you’re in college, it’s perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged, to finish a pizza that’s been left out on the counter over night. But what about a pizza that could last on your counter for up to three years?

Researchers at the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts have been developing a recipe for pizza that won’t require any freezing or refrigeration. But the special formula, which has been in development for the last two years, isn’t intended for hungover college kids. It’s for soldiers who need meals ready to eat (MREs).

“You can basically take the pizza, leave it on the counter, packaged, for three years and it’d still be edible,” Michelle Richardson, a food scientist at the center told the Associated Press.

To keep bacteria-causing moisture from growing on the pizza, researchers are experimenting with ingredients such as sugar, salt and syrups that can act as binders to water, keeping it out of the dough.

The goal is for soldiers to be able to eat these packaged pizzas at any time at room temperature.

But even if a pizza can last for three years, it also has to taste good. Food technologists acting as early taste testers in the lab say the pizza isn’t bad.

“It tastes pretty much [like] what you would get from a pizza parlor,” said food technologist Dan Nattress.

Jill Bates, who runs the taste lab, told the Associated Press, “The only thing missing from that experience would be it’s not hot when you eat it. It’s room temperature.”

A turkey pepperoni pizza is currently in the works.

According to Richardson, soldiers frequently ask for pizza to be part of MRE field rations. These meals are necessary for areas where there are no military kitchens.

Want more quirky food news? Follow me on Twitter: @Jenn_Harris_

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