U.S. Army Develops Pizza That Can Last For Three Years

The U.S. Army is always on the lookout for ways to give its soldiers a piece of home, even if they're stationed thousands of miles away from the United States. Given that few things are more American than a slice of pizza, the military branch just developed a special type of pie that can last for up to three years in harsh conditions, according to Tech Insider.

The U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center has spent the past five years developing “MRE #37” (Meal Ready to Eat). "It's a fully assembled and baked piece of pizza in one package," food technologist Lauren Oleksyk told Tech Insider.

The biggest challenge, according to Oleksyk, was in figuring out how to stop bacteria from growing on the pizza dough and sauce, which needs water for taste, but is also a breeding ground for mold. The solution came in the form of a method known as Hurdle technology which, according to Tech Insider, creates “‘barriers’ that stop bacteria from forming on the pizza over the years.” The end result is a pizza that has a shelf life of three years, which Oleksyk described as tasting like, “day after pizza’ or the kind you'd find in a school cafeteria.”

The pizza can be eaten straight out of its pouch cold, or warm with its included MRE heater, which activates when mixed with water.