The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained individual United States military ration used by the United States Armed Forces and Department of Defense. It is intended for use by American service members in combat or field conditions where other food is not available. MREs have also been distributed to civilians as humanitarian daily rations during natural disasters and wars.
Menu 2, Shredded Beef, and Menu 13, Cheese Tortellini, from the 2019 series
The contents of MRE Menu 2, Shredded Beef
A pair of flameless ration heaters. The instructions advise that they should be rested against a "rock or something".
Meritorious Civilian Service Award presented to Abdul Rahman, father of the modern day MRE
A retort pouch or retortable pouch is a type of food packaging made from a laminate of flexible plastic and metal foils. It allows the sterile packaging of a wide variety of food and drink handled by aseptic processing, and is used as an alternative to traditional industrial canning methods. Retort pouches are used in field rations, space food, fish products, camping food, instant noodles, and brands such as Capri-Sun and Tasty Bite.
A Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE), a field ration that prominently uses a retort pouch as packaging