The storage space needed for a two-week supply of food (not including utensils and other equipment) amounts to about 1.2 cubic feet per man; this figure is based on No. 10 cans which would require some kind of centralized food service. Individually packed portions would require much more room, and produce an even greater volume of empties. Nutritionally the diet is adequate, even for long-term use; but in the event of a water shortage the protein level may be too high. If rationing is necessary or if personal preferences are indulged, it is possible that dietary imbalances could result. In summary, this scheme for feeding shelter occupants should be avoided if at all possible. A "one-dish meal" ration has been proposed by Dunlap Associates (12). They suggest a light breakfast of crackers, jam, and beverage and two hot meals consisting of canned meat-vegetablecereal combinations, the one item containing all components of the meal. Table 7 lists 14 such meals. The list is not exclusive, but the combinations have been selected to reflect the more popular tastes, also to avoid items of known low storage stability, and to obtain high caloric density if possible. The one-dish meal concept avoids some of the drawbacks found in the dinner-as-usual ration. Particularly it simplifies food service, especially if it is packed in individual servings as suggested by Dunlap Associates. But this introduces another problem-special packaging. These one-dish meals, even when packed in ordinary No. 10 cans, are much more costly than the dinner-as-usual foods (figures in Table 7 are based on No. 10 cans). If onedish meals were packed in individual, key-opening cans, as suggested by Dunlap, they would be even more costly. In addition, the key-opening feature introduces a point of weakness as far as the storage life of the can is concerned. By far the most undesirable feature of the one-dish meals is their surprisingly low caloric content. In order to get the 800 calories per meal that would bring the daily intake to 2000 calories, a serving of 1 to 2 1/2 pounds would be required. Eating such a quantity at one meal is obviously impossible for many people. Admittedly, it is difficult to estimate the caloric content of mixtures that vary with the manufacturer. For example, U.S. Department of Agriculture publications give a caloric content for macaroni and cheese that is more than twice as high as that given by one of the manufacturers of this commodity. In general, data given by the manufacturers have been used to arrive at the figures shown in Table 7, because this feeding plan has been proposed as one that could be supplied from normal retail or wholesale outlets. Of course, special formulations with higher caloric density would be possible, but only at increased cost. Aside from simplified food service and less chance of diet imbalance due to a possible sub-division of the ration, the onedish meal scheme has nothing to recommend it over the dinner-asusual plan. And it has some almost insurmountable defects. Esti mated cost of stocking and maintaining this ration exceeds the cost of the dinner-as-usual ration (Table 11). As regular commercial items, these foods would have to be eaten in impossible quantities to supply the prescribed number of calories; as specially formulated and packed items they would be costly to produce, and practically nothing is known about their long-term storage stability. Survival and emergency food packs are being marketed by a dozen or more companies. (Data on several packs are given in Table 8.) These packs range from the very austere to quite elaborate: some are commercial packs of military operational rations, some are collections of various dehydrated foods, some are concentrated foods designed especially as emergency rations. Most of them contain some items in addition to the food, such as personal comfort items, vitamins, cooking utensils or dishes, canned water, or emergency heat source. A storage life of 5 years is claimed for some of these food packs, but no reliable data are presented by the packers. Note in Table 8 that Company B claims a storage life of 1 year for Coast Guard rations while Company C claims 5 years for the identical pack. Military operational rations have been suggested for stockpiling in shelters. Data on three types appear in Table 8. These rations as well as the commercial packs, are, in general, more costly and no more stable than ordinary commercial products, and most of them are too high in protein. Two of the commercial food kits that seem to be possible candidates for provisioning shelters (they are identified as Company A's survival ration and Company F's survival kit) are listed in the summary (Table 11) for comparison with other food schemes. It would seem that food packs, as a class, could be of greatest use by serving as a food stock in automobiles in case of evacuation of an area, or in any situation where the food supply must be carried by an individual from one place to another. A strictly austere shelter ration has much to recommend it. Several such rations are listed in Table 9. Dr. G. F. Combs of the University of Maryland, Dr. A. E. Shaefer of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and Dr. John Browe, Department of Health, State of New York, among others, have suggested that a palatable, nutritionally adequate biscuit constitute the sole shelter food. An existing biscuit approximating this description is the chow fed to experimental monkeys. Two commercial cereal processors are working on a more sophisticated version of the same thing. A cereal wafer under development at this Laboratory (Western Utilization Research and Development Division) could serve the same general purpose, although no attempt is being made to produce a product that is nutritionally adequate. For a limited shelter stay, optimal nutritional balance does not appear necessary. To formulate for nutritional adequacy would increase initial cost of the product and could reduce stability which would increase replacement costs. These specially compounded biscuits can be low in cost and entirely adequate to keep a population nourished. The only questionable aspect is concerned with the need to provide a ration that "sustains morale." Other rations advanced as austere-type diets are peanuts or peanut candy bars; a high-protein formula developed in 1945 by Henry Borsook at California Institute of Technology; and a liquid food consisting of non-fat dried milk, dextrimaltose and vegetable oil. Peanuts are more costly than the cereal biscuits and they may cause some intestinal distress. In a recent shelter habitability test (47) the peanut bars caused toothaches and sore gums. For a healthy, adult population peanuts might prove satisfactory but in the absence of conspicuous storage stability or other outstanding feature they seem to offer little promise. The Borsook formula was designed as a food supplement to augment the low protein diets of underprivileged peoples--it was never intended to serve as the sole food (1). It has been suggested that sugar or a cereal food be combined with the formula to make a shelter ration. But even if the recommended day's ration of this formula (570 calories) were combined with a straight carbohydrate food to make a total of 2000 calories, the protein content of the diet would be too high for use in shelters if the lowprotein regime is desired. The Borsook formula is 50% protein. The milk-dextrimaltose-oil mixture was tried in a shelter habitability test at Parks Air Force Base in December 1959. It was not well liked (17,47). Its greatest virtue is its suitability for feeding infants. Several of the austere diets are listed in the summary (Table 11) for comparison of costs and storage space required. A cereal-based ration has been developed at this Laboratory and tested in two shelter habitability tests. The research work on a cereal wafer and evaluation of the cereal-based ration are the subjects of Chapter 7. The limitation in protein content and palatability factors considered in the provisioning of shelters point toward rations with a high carbohydrate level. Historically, cereals have formed the backbone of austere, energy-producing diets in the parts of the world which produced the ethnic ancestry of this nation's people. And it is to cereals one turns when considering an abundant, low-cost raw material source in this nation. Were cooking facilities possible, a daily loaf of fresh bread would almost certainly be considered an ideal survival ration for a week or two. However, a preserved cereal product that is a substitute for fresh bread is not known. Canned bread is a technological possibility that has a usefulness in military rationing. However, it is costly and does not have the long shelf-life desirable for shelter stockpiles. Furthermore, unless it can be heated, its palatability is considerably less than that of fresh bread. Hard tack is, likewise, a rather poor substitute for fresh bread and probably would not be palatable enough for a two-week shelter existence. The specially formulated cracker or wafer (called WU cereal wafer) consists principally of wheat. It has a number of menu possibilities, thus some of its lack in palatability (as compared to fresh bread) may be compensated for by serving it in a variety of ways and in conjunction with a few foods or flavorings of moderate cost (Table \10). The basic product can be eaten out-of-hand and constitutes an austere-type ration by itself if necessary. It can be spread with jam, peanut butter, jelly, etc.; be crumbled and served with sugar and hot or cold milk as a breakfast food; be crumbled and served with a hot soup, sauce, or gravy, as a pilaftype main course for lunch or dinner; and be combined with a sweetened fruit or syrup topping as a dessert. By these many uses, a single ration item--the cereal wafer--can be the major component of a shelter food supply. It can supply fifty percent or more of the food requirements, thereby reducing procurement and surveillance activities. In contrast to other rations discussed, the cereal wafer part of this ration is not available at the present time. The spreads and toppings, however, are taken from available commercial supplies. It should be indicated here, that many of the toppings could be improved so as to reduce their initial cost, enhance their palatability for use with the wheat wafer, and increase their stability substantially. Preliminary investigations on the ration concept have been concluded and a prototype wheat wafer has been developed and evaluated. Further developmental work on process and product formulation is required. At this time, five year's storage is indicated |