WEBVTT - What is an MRE?

0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.600
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com

0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:08.240
<v Speaker 1>where smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question,

0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:13.000
<v Speaker 1>what is an m R E? M R E stands

0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:16.200
<v Speaker 1>for meal ready to eat and m R E comes

0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.720
<v Speaker 1>in a plastic pouch called retort packaging. The packaging is

0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.480
<v Speaker 1>made of aluminum foil and plastic layer together. An m

0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:28.200
<v Speaker 1>r E pouch contains normal food. It might contain chili

0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.840
<v Speaker 1>or beef stew. The food is pre cooked, put into

0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.960
<v Speaker 1>the pouch, and the pouches sealed. The pouch and the

0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:39.040
<v Speaker 1>food it contains are then heated to sterilize the contents.

0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.040
<v Speaker 1>Since the pouch is sealed, the food stays fresh for

0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.040
<v Speaker 1>a long time, years at a time. This is no

0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.120
<v Speaker 1>different from metal or glass canning. The food in the

0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.839
<v Speaker 1>can is sterilized by heat in a sealed container so

0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.280
<v Speaker 1>bacteria can't get in and spoil it. Think of retort

0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:59.160
<v Speaker 1>packaging as a flexible can. The food tastes no different

0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.279
<v Speaker 1>from canned earlier beef stew. Retort packaging is also used

0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.160
<v Speaker 1>for a variety of drinks. The drinks that come into

0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.119
<v Speaker 1>flexible pouch are usually made using the same technology used

0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.119
<v Speaker 1>to create m R E s Do you have any

0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.839
<v Speaker 1>ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send

0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.160
<v Speaker 1>me an email at podcast at how stuff works dot com.

0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:22.520
<v Speaker 1>For more on this and thousands of other topics, go

0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.400
<v Speaker 1>to how stuff works dot com