FREEZE-DRY FOODS

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29783, 28 March 1962, Page 16

FREEZE-DRY FOODS

Investigation By Army (N.Z. Press Association) INVERCARGILL, March 27. The New Zealand Army is investigating the possibilities of adapting accelerated freeze dried foods for Army use. Two Army cooks and a purchasing officer have spent a week in Southland making tests with freeze-dried foods at the Alliance Freezing Company’s Lorneville works, home of New Zealand’s only freeze drying plant. The Army is testing meat, vegetables and fruits packed by the new freeze dry process to find out whether they will be suitable for ration packs used by troops operating away from base camp for long periods. The Army will conduct exhaustive tests over several months to ascertain whether the freeze-dried pack is palatable, nutritious, economical and, most important, how well it will keep in climates likely to be met by New Zealand soldiers.

For ration packs, which must be stored for months at a time in varying climates, the last point is the most important. While they were at the Alliance works the Army cooks. Lieutenant L. G. Leonard, of Southern Military District Headquarters, Christchurch, and Corporal D. Willetts, of Burnham Military Camp, made tests with a wide variety of foods. The foods tested included red meats, fish, vegetables, curry and rice, sausages, curried meats, lamb’s fry and bacon, sausages with beans, tomatoes and spaghetti, ham, tongue, corned beef, crayfish, eggs, roast meats and fruits.