Date:         Fri, 12 Apr 2002 14:33:38 -0400
Reply-To:     Stones <sstones@IDIRECT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stones <sstones@IDIRECT.COM>
Subject:      The three year sandwich. Re: Long-term Camping Food
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Here's the times' article about the sandwich.  Sorry, no Vanagon content.

Army marches on an ancient
sandwich
  By Mark Henderson, Science
Correspondent




  THE culinary maestros who gave the world powdered egg and processed
cheese have
  come up with a new addition to 21st-century lunchboxes: the US military
has
  developed an "indestructible sandwich" that stays fresh for three
years.


  The sandwiches, available in pepperoni or barbecue chicken flavour, can
survive
  airdrops, rough handling and extreme heat ? in fact, almost anything
apart from a
  hungry
soldier.


  They are designed to remain tasty after months or even years in the
sweaty pockets
  of a soldier's combat fatigues, providing quick and easy sustenance on
the go.


  The chunky sandwiches will keep for up to three years at temperatures of
26C (79F),
  or for six months at 38C (100F), slightly above body temperature, and the
packaging
  is designed to withstand the heavy impacts it will encounter in the
field.


  They have been developed by food scientists at the US Army Soldier
Systems Centre
  in Natick, Massachusetts, who have struck a delicate balance between
fillings,
  bread and packaging to create a product that will resist mould and
sogginess, yet
  remain
palatable.


  The team have infused bread and meat fillings with chemicals called
humectants,
  which seal the water in the food and stop it from leaking out. These also
limit the
  amount of water that is available for bacteria or fungi to
grow.


  The sandwiches, which are sealed in laminated pouches, are likely to see
action for
  the first time in 2004, and it will not take much longer for them to
reach the
  supermarket
shelves.