European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Helping the army March on its stomach by Dena Kleiman the new York times Good news for the troops. Their gripes have been heard. Next time there s a War there will be Steak sort of. As Well As pizza burritos hot dogs Fried Chicken potato chips waffles and pork Chow mein. Quot we Learned from the War that they Don t like All these casseroles Quot said Daniel Berkowitz a senior food technologist at the army a research development and engineering Center in Natick mass., which dreams up the various dishes eaten by the men and women of the armed services around the world. Its inventions and concerns have dictated what the military is fed in both War and peace. But Over the years its creation and the products they have inspired have also helped shape the eating habits of the rest of America with such inventions As freeze dried Coffee Granola bars Tang and noodles that can be cooked almost instantly in a cup Berkowitz is in charge of new product development for the Center s food engineering directorate and is the Mastermind behind the military s meals ready to eat the so called res in Brown plastic pouches that simultaneously sustained and disheartened the nations troops during the. Persian Gulf crisis. The rations frequently eaten cold in the saudi desert and containing provisions like Chicken amp la King a meatballs with Barbecue sauce and corned beef hash a were frequently called Quot airing Alpo Quot and worse by american troops. Many kuwaiti refugees refused to eat them As did egyptian soldiers who having tasted them decided instead to use the unopened boxes As stools. Berkowitz said it was t fair to compare what american troops ale in saudi Arabia with the meals of the italians and French soldiers who he said cooked most of their food from scratch and even served wine. Quot if you had the Opportunity to eat a freshly prepared meal and wine would t you Quot he asked. He added that there were simply too Many american troops overseas deployed too quickly to orchestrate ten Side food preparation. While carping about military food has a Long and honorable history it is Berkowitzz a Job to consider the criticisms and to see if he can come up with something. Better among his chief responsibilities Are the res of which 206 million boxes 12 meals to the Box were consumed a or at least passed around a during the Gulf crisis at a Cost of $900 million according to the defense personnel support Center in Philadelphia which purchases All food clothing and medical supplies for the armed services. Trying to do better was just what he was doing one july Day As he stood in the Center s Large test Kitchen grinding up beef knuckle and adding enzymes to it in an Effort to Quot restructure Quot it so it Quot looks feels and tastes like a Quot unfortunately Steak res always taste like put roast Quot Berkowitz said. He explained that no matter How Good the raw materials once they Are put in a plastic Pouch and cooked at 250 degrees under pressure to kill bacteria so no refrigeration is required they generally lose their natural flavor and texture one solution Berkowitz has explored is grilling the Quot Steak first and then dousing it with enough smoke Flavouring before the 250-degree Quot Thermo stabilizing Quot so that it retains a barbecued look and flavor. Reheated and removed irom the Pouch the meat actually does no to taste bad. Other projects include bread and Rolls that stay Quot fresh Quot Lor three years Fri d goods that stay Crunchy until now unthinkable in therm stabilized Foo Sand a new Are Fried egg that actually looks like an egg Yolk and All. Until recently eggs cooked under pressure at High temperatures turned Green and smelled worse. He is also experimenting with Quot oxygen absorbers Quot Little packets containing Iron that Are slipped into the Pouch and discarded before the food is eaten. They would be used to extend the shelf life of pizza burritos hamburger buns hot dog Rolls waffles and cake. Until now because All these foods have required refrigeration none have been served in res. The Only cakes available were so unpalatable that Gas called them a Gorilla for the general Public this technology could mean that store bought bread May someday stay fresh longer than a month. Quot this is our new biscuit Quot Berkowitz said proudly pointing to a Flaky Golden Roll that had been baked in his Laboratory three years earlier. Quot we re going to serve this with creamed chipped ,. Beef a a dish that old army hands remember being served on what they called a Berkowitz s Laboratory which has a staff of 150 and an annual budget of $10 million is in Lajarge warehouse crammed with freezers Industrial size ovens microwave freeze dryers centrifuges test tubes and Beer barrel size pressure cookers. A with backgrounds in food technology chemistry physics microbiology and food preparation staff members Are trying to improve the flavor of the rations and to provide More diversity in the foods offered. Part of the Challenge is that under army regulations meals ready to eat which replaced the Bulky cans of rations that soldiers lugged around during world War ii must be Able to keep on a shelf without refrigeration for at least three years without spoiling they also must be cheap a each entree costing less than $1 to to produce a and must retain As much of their texture and color As possible. One afternoon sue Mccaffrey a student technician at the Laboratory was experimenting with cooking temperatures for waffles. In front of her were six waffles including one cooked at 395 degrees for 2% minutes one at 390 degrees for 3 minutes and one at 400degrees for 2vi minutes. Quot we re trying to accomplish a moist Mouth fee without adding water Quot said Mccaffrey. She said one secret of the Waffle recipe is the use of a natural sweetener that chemically retains water the question now is How to find the Best cooking temperature. Others in the lab were testing tablets that someday might be used in water to replace carbonated soda an updated version of fizzles. And sgt. Curtis Reed was trying to find a More palatable version of reconstituted milk. Quot the problem with the milk today is that it stays stable but no one will drink it Quot said Reed he s trying to come up with an alternative to the Coconut Oil that is added to dried milk giving it an unpleasant aftertaste. Once Berkowitz and his staff Are satisfied with a product they Send it to be evaluated officially by the Center s food acceptance Laboratory which tests not Only res but All other foods served to the military. The other Day a 38-member panel was summoned to taste a Batch of canned Macaroni salad. He Joon Kim a 43-year-Oid research chemist at the Center who volunteers As a taster was on hand. When he bit into the Sample he thought at first it was Macaroni and cheese. /. Quot the first one was too sour Quot Kim said afterwards. Quot the second one i guess was Fine. But i done to know. The Macaroni did t taste so in fact the Macaroni Saiad Kim and the others tasted had been kept on a shelf for four years. By Kim a Standard it should be tossed out. It is not yet Clear whether it will be. The research Center is trying to beef up the taste of res frequently Ca i led airing Alpo Quot by american troops. After approval from the food acceptance lab new products Are sent to soldiers in the Field where they Are rated not Only for taste but also on How nutritious they Are. In All it May take years before a new product is finally., approved. In addition to coming up with what is served to soldiers Berkowitzz a operation develops packaging for the rations. A amps qua Schuettler one innovation is a blameless ration healer a kind of Pouch containing magnesium that once opened and filled with water can heat an entree in 10 minutes. Quot if they re eating it cold of course they done to like it Quot said Berkowitz. He said that was one in the persian Gulf that most rations were consumed cold. Another innovation being tested is a Container hat could hold an entire meal nol unlike the frays that contain to dinners. In such packaging the dessert must be j insulated More than the entree so it does nol Burn during cooking. If this new packaging succeeds currently if keeps food for Only 18 months instead of three year the meals. Could even replace res so soldiers would nol have to eat out of pouches but would have instant meals on trays. Quot give a Soldier anything new and hell like it right away Quot said Berkowitz he said his greatest Challenge is menu boredom. A twelve different meals now come to a Box each one numbered a no. 2, for example is corned beef hash. For diversity he is working on cajun mexican asian jamaican and italian spice kits that can meet the Shell life specifications so soldiers can flavor their food to their own tastes. Quot people done to realize How we try to please the soldiers Quot said Agnes Russell a food technician at the lab Busy grinding up the restructured Steak. Quot they like momus Home cooking. It s hard to get that in a Pouch. We do the next Best . Iraqi prisoners Chow Down on res in a holding Camp in Northern saudi Arabia. Many kuwaiti refugees and egyptian soldiers refused to eat the packaged Field rations. Food technologists at the army s research development and engineering Center in Natick mass., dream up the various dishes eaten by soldiers. Page 14 a the stars and stripes Friday August 9, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15
