Soldiers participated in a food-tasting test during their training at Fort McCoy, Wis., to help the Department of the Defense decide its future rations menu.

Later, cigarettes were included in field rations, but tobacco was phased out for health reasons in 1975, though matches are still included in MREs.

"The ration teams have evaluated it, as well as the warfighters, technical sensory evaluation panels, dieticians, nutritionists, and food scientists like myself.

Moore agreed that field-stripping is a problem, but he also blamed bland food and menus that don’t meet the needs for high-intensity fighting.

The rations are supposed to keep troops fed until they can reach a field kitchen like this (Credit: Chris Hart, US Army) Those are the ones that can become food-safety troublemakers, causing spoilage.

It is the God-given right of any soldier in any armed force in history to complain about their food, especially when it comes to field rations -- and they will, no matter how good it might be ...

ARMY EMERGENCY RATIONS; Official Report of Tests Made with Soldiers in the Field. Board of Officers Develops Prepared Food that Is Wholesome and Nu- tritious -- Other Experiments Fail.

Meals, Ready for Battle An Inside Look at the Creation of Soldier Field Rations February 21, 200312:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Jack Speer ...

For the military, however, having the right rations is also a fundamental part of conducting warfare: food that can be taken into the field reduces reliance on supply lines that might be ...

Army field rations have lacked pizza as an option until now. NPR's Renee Montagne asks food scientist Michelle Richardson how the Army finally produced a palatable pizza for troops in the field.

They aren't allowing reporters to see much of anything we're doing over there, so the Army was good enough to send us some field rations to show you. This is an old WW II K-Ration.