Posted on 08/15/2005 2:05:08 PM PDT by steel_resolve
Would you eat food cooked in your own urine? Food scientists working for the US military have developed a dried food ration that troops can hydrate by adding the filthiest of muddy swamp water or even peeing on it.
The ration comes in a pouch containing a filter that removes 99.9 per cent of bacteria and most toxic chemicals from the water used to rehydrate it, according to the Combat Feeding Directorate, part of the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts. This is the same organisation that created the "indestructible sandwich" that will stay fresh for three years (New Scientist print edition, 10 April 2002).
The aim is to reduce the amount of water soldiers need to carry. One day's food supply of three meals, weighs 3.5 kilograms but that can be reduced to about 0.4 kilograms with the dehydrated pouches, says spokeswoman Diane Wood.
The pouch - containing chicken and rice initially - relies on osmosis to filter the water or urine. When two solutions of different concentrations are separated by a semipermeable membrane, with gaps that allow only water molecules to pass through, the water is drawn to the more concentrated side.
Hungry soldier
The membranes are made of thin sheets of a cellulose-based plastic, with gaps between the fibres that are just 0.5 nanometres across, too small for bacteria to pass through.
A hungry soldier pours dirty water into one end of a foil sachet containing two inner pouches separated by the membrane. The water seeps through the membrane into the dehydrated food on the other side. As it dissolves large molecules in the food, it creates a very high concentration solution. The osmotic pressure created then draws more water through the membrane.
Hydration Technology of Albany, Oregon, which makes the membrane, says soldiers should only use urine in an absolute emergency because the membrane is too coarse to filter out urea.
The body will not find this toxic over the short term, says Ed Beaudry, an engineer with HTI, but rehydrating food this way in the long term would cause kidney damage.
No bacteria, but some chemicals do get excreted in the urine.
I never served, I use them when I hike and camp.
The best thing about them is you can stick them in your shorts or underarms while hiking and have a hot meal when you arrive at your destination. You can also carry a weeks worth of food in a small volume.
I recommend the armpit, as you can get some pretty sore spots if you put them in your shorts; And because your wife will never believe you when you try to explain where those marks came from when you get home. I learned that one the hard way.
I wonder if peeing in the dehydrated fruit is a good idea...? No, I think I'll just crunch them down.
But this doesn't lesson the amount of water the soldier takes in, or eliminates, so it can't cause dehydration. It just uses "recycling" to lower the load of water he has to carry, and/or has to be ferried to him. Or put another way, it helps to keep him from getting dehydrated with a fixed or unavoidably reduced ration of water.
"The ration comes in a pouch containing a filter that removes 99.9 per cent of bacteria and most toxic chemicals from the water used to rehydrate it,.."
Its not exactly urine once it goes through the filter.
And don`t they use this same technology in the space station, "whizzing" around the earth up there ?
One of my favorite "war-stories" involved a can of freeze-dried shrimp and a couple cans of beer.Needless to say the shrimp were flavorfully rehydrated and zestfully consumed.
Do they have dehydrated Ham and Limas now?
I always wondered where they got those GIANT lima beans
there would be a little chunk of ham and 6 HUGE limas.
Ick.
Pork steak, ham steak, I could take, ham and eggs no.
the cinnimon roll/cake thing wasn't bad, and the crackers
and peanut butter/jelly was always a stand by, thank god
for tobasco sauce too.
I smoked at the time so the Luckies and Pall Malls from
wwII came in handy.
This was in Nam so they were getting a little long in the
tooth.
I see you must have missed the "Meat without Animals" threads this afternoon.
I have fond memories of the dehydrated pork patty.
I think I'm gonna be sick.
I don't see where this is going to help recruiting.
Confucius say: Soldier who cooks carrots and peas in same pot very unsanitary!
I wouldn't want to have your stomach when that stuff swelled up...
Oh, you FILTER it.
I was wondering why it tasted "funny."
Now they tell me.
They're actually pretty good and they sure beat the hell out of the old C-RATS.
An average man loses over two quarts of water per day in perspiration and urination; the more you perspire the less you urinate and eventually you will dehydrate.
I often used that technique to study in college...
Well back (WayBack) in the "C-Ration" days I don't think pissing into a can of Beef-Peas-&-Gravy would have helped the taste. But it wouldn't have hurt it either.
Used to fight over the Cornbeef Hash and the Fruit Cocktail.
"Sarge, I'm kinda dried out. Would you mind pissing on my sandwich"?
I KNEW there was a reason I didn't like MRE's as well as I did C-rats!
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