Meal, Ready-to-Eat

The concept of battlefield Meals, Ready-to-Eat, or "MREs" for short, has not changed much over the past six hundred years. MREs are carried aboard UNSC vessels for use on the battlefield. A conventional MRE contains a single meal, consisting of pre-cooked food which has been vacuum-sealed into plastic containers or pouches so as to prevent spoiling.

These MREs are designed so that the contents remain edible for months, or even years, if need be. MREs are typically used in areas of combat where constructing a kitchen facility is not possible, or practical due to time or safety constraints. Each Human Entry Vehicle stores a number of MREs for the landed ODSTs. The ODSTs who landed on Installation 04 had ample supplies to set up Alpha Base, including MREs.

Contents
MREs have conventionally contained a number of food items, and there are usually dozens of different meals and variations so that not every MRE contains the same meal. This is so that soldiers may have a variety in their Diets while in a hostile area. Some of the materials that could be found in an MRE may include:


 * Basic Rations
 * Stim-Packs
 * Protein Bars
 * Instant Coffee
 * Nutritional Supplements
 * Candy Bars

The opinion of MREs in the 26th century is unknown, however many military autobiographies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries recorded negative opinions, with writers typically expressing a distaste of the rations. Dr. Catherine Halsey has a particular dislike for MREs.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss
 * Blunt Instruments
 * Kilo-Five Trilogy
 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: Reach
 * The Package