Military nears 'holy grail' of food: Pizza that stays fresh for three years

Researchers at US military lab are closing in on a recipe for long-lasting pizza

Scientists are creating pizza that could last as long as fresh pizza, such as the deep pan in this picture (Getty Images )

Researchers at a US military laboratory are close to developing a pizza which stays fresh for three years, in what is being described as the holy grail of ready-to-eat food.

"You can basically take the pizza, leave it on the counter, packaged, for three years and it'd still be edible," said Michelle Richardson, a food scientist at the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center who has spent two years working on the product.

The pizza would not need to be frozen in order to stay fresh, Ms Richardson added.

Soldiers have been asking for pizza since lightweight individual field rations — known as meals ready to eat, or MREs — replaced canned food in 1981 for soldiers in combat zones or areas where field kitchens cannot be set up.

Researchers chose to develop a recipe for pizza because it was one of their most requested items when asked what they would like to see in their field rations.

A slice of the prototype pepperoni pizza (Getty Images)

However, creating a recipe has proved difficult as moisture in tomato sauce, cheese and toppings migrated to the dough over time, resulting in soggy pizza that provided excellent conditions for mould and disease-causing bacteria to grow.

Research over the past few years has focused on preventing the moisture from migrating by using ingredients such as humectants — sugar, salt and syrups— that can bind to water and keep it from getting to the dough.

Lead researcher Jill Bates has tried the latest prototype batch of pepperoni pizza and said: "It pretty much tastes just like a typical pan pizza that you would make at home and take out of the oven or the toaster oven.

"The only thing missing from that experience would be it's not hot when you eat it. It's room temperature."

Turkey pepperoni pizza also will be available for soldiers who do not eat pork products.

David Accetta, a former Army lieutenant colonel and spokesperson for the lab also tried the pizza and said he liked it.

"In a lot of cases, when you are cold and tired and hungry, having a hot meal that's something that you like and you would get at home, it increases your morale — and we consider that to be a force multiplier," he added.

Additional reporting by Associated Press