GDR 99 - Land Systems

Feeding the Force


Section Articles
• Land Warriors • The Grizzly & the Wolverine • Expanding Engineering Paradigms • Wagons on a Roll: Freightliner • A Clear View: Helio Periscopes • Power Savings: Plustech • Building Bridges: EWK • Science & Survival: DERA • Feeding the Force: Have-a-Pack • Swedish Workhorse: Volvo
Top: Members of the South African Defence Forces enjoy a snack of country sausages.

South African-based meat products Have-a-Pack are able to cast a whole new light on the meaning of roughing it.

Following recent endorsement by the World Health Organisation, the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa's Have-a-Pack meat products will play an increasingly important role in fulfiling the supply of rations and emergency food packs in the defence, aviation and civil-defence sectors worldwide.

Irradiated foods have been on sale in South Africa for many years. The technology is used to ensure supplies of high-quality food wherever it is needed without refrigeration.

The packs are prepared and pre-cooked using only top-quality beef, pork or chicken. All bones and excess fat are removed from the meat cuts prior to preparation and stringent quality control is maintained throughout the process. This careful preparation and the irradiation process ensure optimum retention of nutrients and the exclusion of any microbiological contamination.

Presented in individual portions in light-weight, durable, foil pouches, the packs are extremely easy to carry and store. Because the packs have a guaranteed shelf-life of two years, it is possible to enjoy a ready-cooked, gourmet meat dish anywhere without the need for cookers, freezers and refrigerators.


Link: www.haveapack.co.za

There are 12 different dishes from which to choose ranging from hearty breakfast portions of bacon or country sausage to tender roast pork and the more exotic beef stroganoff. A recent and extremely versatile addition to the range is savoury mince with mushrooms. In ideal circumstances the packs are heated in boiling water for a few minutes, but because they are ready-cooked they can be eaten just as they are.

Have-a-Pack products have been used by South Africa's outdoor and hiking fraternity for many years. In 1996 Cathy O'Dowd, the country's first woman to climb Everest, used the products exclusively on the climb, heating the packs in her sleeping bag on occasions. The products and the packaging are designed to endure temperatures in excess of -60 to +60 degrees centigrade.