U.S. Military Meals Cater to Range of Creeds, Needs

U.S. soldiers whose diets are restricted for religious reasons may not have to put up much longer with such dubious delights as ham omelets and corned beef hash that won’t spoil for years.

Military food researchers are developing “multi-faith” field rations that could serve as many as 125,000 Jews, Muslims, Hindus and vegetarians among the nation’s 2.5 million active-duty soldiers and reservists.

They will also bring what many soldiers dream of when faced with the 12 Meals Ready-to-Eat, or MREs, now available: variety.

Soldiers who once cringed at the goopy mix of chicken and vegetables the military calls chicken a la king could choose pasta primavera sealed in a little plastic tray, cheese tortellini or vegetable lasagna instead.

“When you send a person out for 30 or 40 days and you only have 12 menus to choose from, you get tired of the same old thing,” said Gary Shults, who’s developing the rations at the Army’s Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center near Boston.

Eight of the 12 new MREs contain vegetarian entrees. The others feature chicken and beef dishes prepared under Jewish kosher dietary laws, which prohibit pork and shellfish, require dairy and meat products to be kept separate and prescribe a ritual manner for slaughtering animals.

Muslim dietary laws also prohibit pork and require ritual slaughtering, but allow shellfish and mixing meat and dairy foods.

So far the meals haven’t been tried out on troops, but Shults swears that they are tasty enough to be a hit.

“The variety by itself is a good idea. Whether it’s vegetarian or whatever--it’s a good idea,” said Capt. John Thiel, an artillery specialist at Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway Township, N.J. He ate MREs for about half his meals during a six-month tour in the Persian Gulf.

Shults said the multi-faith rations could be distributed as early as next year. Others are skeptical, partly because one supplier recently stopped producing some of the entrees Shults has been studying.

“We’ve been trying to get the military to do this for years,” said Capt. Mitchell Ackerson, a rabbi at Ft. Bragg, N.C. “When I see it, I’ll believe it.”

Packed in plastic pouches with a shelf life of up to seven years, MREs were introduced in 1980 to replace canned C-rations. But after a flood of complaints during the Gulf War, the military decided to revamp the chow.

Col. Marc Abramowitz, a rabbi with the Army chaplain school at Ft. Monmouth, N.J., said the military had trouble meeting the culinary needs of observant Jews, vegetarians and others who were mobilized during the Gulf War.

Not being able to get the proper food puts undue stress on a soldier, Abramowitz said.