The Racin de Combate (Individual) was introduced in 2003, consisting of a gray plastic-foil laminate pouch containing a mix of canned and dehydrated foods, plus minimal supplements, for 1 soldier for 1 day. All products in the RC are domestically produced, commercially available items. Each ration contains: canned meat, small can of meat spread, crackers, instant soup, cereal bar with fruit, a chocolate bar or with nuts,or caramels, instant coffee, orange juice powder, sugar, salt, a heating kit with disposable stove and alcohol-based fuel tablets, disposable butane lighter, resealable plastic bag, and a pack of paper tissues. Menu # 1 contains: corned beef, meat pate, crisp water crackers, and instant soup with fideo pasta. Menu #2 includes: roasted beef in gravy, meat pate, whole wheat crackers, and quick-cooking polenta in cheese sauce.
Canada
Main article: Individual Meal Pack
Canada provides each soldier with a complete pre-cooked meal known as the IMP (Individual Meal Pack), packaged inside a heavy-duty folding paper bag. There are 5 breakfast menus, 6 lunch menus, and 6 supper menus. Canadian rations provide generous portions and contain a large number of commercially available items. Like the US ration, the main meal is precooked and ready-to-eat, packed in heavy-duty plastic-foil retort pouches boxed with card board. Typically, the ration contains a meal item (beans and wiener sausages, scalloped potatoes with ham, smoked salmon fillet, macaroni and cheese, cheese omelette with mushrooms, shepherd’s pie, etc.), wet-packed (sliced or mashed) fruit in a boxed retort pouch, and depending on the meal a combination of instant soup or cereal, fruit drink crystals, jam or cheese spread, peanut butter, honey, crackers, bread (dinner roll) compressed into a retort pouch, coffee and tea, sugar, commercially available chocolate bars and hard candy, a long plastic spoon, paper towels and wet wipes. Canada also makes limited use of a Light Meal Pack containing dried meat or cheese, dried fruit, a granola bar, a breakfast cereal square, a chocolate bar, hard candy, hot cocoa mix, and two pouches of instant fruit drink.
Colombia
Colombia issues the Racin de Campaa, a very dark olive green (almost black) plastic bag weighing between 1092 – 1205 grams and providing between 3097 and 3515 calories. Inside are the MRE-like retort pouch main courses and supplements needed by 1 soldier for 1 day. The individual meals, which cater to South American tastes, consist of a breakfast, a lunch, and a main meal (Tamal, Envueltos, Lentejas con chorizo, Arvejas con carne, Garbanzo a la madrilea, Arroz atollado, Ajiaco con pollo, Sudado con papas y carne, etc.) plus bread products, beverage mixes, candy and accessories. All items except the beverage mixes require no further preparation and can be eaten either hot or cold. The beverage powders must be mixed with hot or cold water before consumption. Each ration also contains raw sugar, a can of condensed milk, sandwich cookies, sweetened and thickened cream spread, hard candy or caramels, peanuts or trail mix or 25 g of roasted almonds, instant coffee, salt, paper towels, a plastic spoon, 2 water purification tablets, and a multivitamin tablet.
Mexico
The Mexican defense department (SEDENA) issues the “comida de combate individual diaria para soldados” box or “individual soldiers daily combat meals box.” It is packaged in an olive green and black plastic box with the contents printed on the front, the box contains three individual meal packs containing 3,640 to 4,030 calorie meals which are meant to sustain a soldier for a day. Each individual meal package contains a 2 main retort pouches which are meant to be eaten with each other. The first retort pouch usually contains a meat product (such as beef, pork, sausage, fish, ham, seafood, chicken, tuna, bacon or other meats which are usually mixed with a flavoring sauce and vegetables) the second retort pouch contains a staple food (rice, homony, noodles, beans, pasta, eggs or more vegetables). Each meal package also contains salt, spices, condensed milk, cream, butter, chorizo spread, dried fruit or preserves, bread, crackers, sugar, custard, cookies, canned fish, cocoa mix, nuts, chocolate or other candies, vitamins, a large pouch of drinking water, a pouch of Jumex fruit juice or Coca-cola, biodegradable napkins and untensils and water purification tablets. Some meal packages do not contain the two main retort pouches and instead contain a single larger pouch with a finished meal such as tamales or steak and eggs but, these are usually only available when close to a base or when the military is operating in an urban area. When these were handed out by the Mexican military during their assistance in the Hurricane Katrina relief operation many Americans who received them gave very high praise about their taste and variety.
United States
The United States’ MRE is packaged similarly to the Canadian ration. Each sealed plastic bag contains one entire precooked meal, with a number of supplements and accessories. The original 12 menus have been expanded to 24 and now contain a variety of ethnic and special request items as well. Kosher/Halal and Vegetarian menus are also provided. Each meal bag contains an 8-oz main course (packaged in a four-layer plastic and foil laminate retort pouch), 8 hard military crackers, some form of spread (cheese, peanut butter, or jelly), a fruit-based beverage powder, some form of dessert (cake, candy, cookies, or fruit), and an accessory packet containing coffee or tea, creamer, sugar, salt, matches, a plastic spoon, and toilet paper. A chemical heater is packed with every meal.
The First Strike Ration (FSR) is a compact, eat-on-the-move ration to be used for no more than three days during initial periods of highly intense, highly mobile combat assaults. A single FSR (24 hours food) is about 50% of the size and weight of three MREs. Each FSR provides 2900 calories (15% protein, 53% carbohydrates, 34% fat), versus the 3800 calories in three MREs, and has a two-year shelf life when stored at 80F. An FSR is packed in a single trilaminate bag and contains filled pocket sandwiches, a pouch of tuna or chicken, two packets of ERGO high-energy drink mix, two high-energy cereal bars (First Strike Bars), a dairy-based calcium-enriched dessert bar, two packets of beef jerky (BBQ or Teriyaki flavored), fortified applesauce, nut and fruit mix, caffeinated gum, and an accessory pack containing a beverage mix, salt, matches, tissues, plastic spoon, and cleansing moist towelettes. The FSR comes in three menus:
Italian pocket sandwich
Honey BBQ beef pocket sandwich
Bacon-cheddar pocket sandwich
chicken chunks pouch
Albacore tuna pouch
pepperoni pocket sandwich
tortillas & hot sauce
tortillas & mayonnaise
filled French Toast pocket sandwich
Cinnamon & brown sugar toaster pastry
lemon poppy-seed pound cake
jalapeo cheese spread & wheat snack bread
peanut butter and crackers
cheese spread and crackers
apple cider mix
lemon tea mix
instant coffee, non-dairy creamer and sugar
Europe
Czech Republic
After joining NATO, the Czechs developed a combat ration known as the Bojov Dvka Potravin (BDP). The BDP comes in two versions, type I and II, each holding two ready-to-eat main courses packed in large foil “cans” (beef roast with rice, pork goulash with potato, spicy risotto, pork with carrots and vegetables, etc.), a small plastic cup of lunch meat spread, cheese spread, hard bread, cookies, jam, instant coffee, tea bags, fruit-flavored multivitamin drink tablets, vitamin C enriched fruit drink powder, a chocolate bar, sugar, salt, chewing gum, wet napkins, paper towels, a plastic bag, and a menu and instruction sheet. A modified version of the BDP known as the KDP (Konzervovan Dvka Potravin) is also used. This contains the same items as the BDP, but adds an aluminium cup, plastic utensils, a folding stove with fuel tablets and matches, and soap.
Finland
When (during peacetime) conscript soldiers are not provided with meals cooked either in garrisons or attached field kitchens, they are provided with rations (colloquially known as sissi rations) packed in a clear plastic bag. Several different menus exist, all include however foil packed crispbread, coffee and tea, sugar, chocolate, small tins of beef or pork, chewing gum, dry porridge, energy drink powder etc. Soups and porridges that are meant to be mixed with water and cooked are usually prepared in Trangia-type portable stoves that are shared by the pair in a fire and maneuver team, or in individual mess kits.
France
French combat ration
The French combat ration, the RCIR (ration de combat individuelle rechauffable) comes in 14 menus packed in a small cardboard box. Inside are 2 precooked, ready-to-eat meal main courses packed in thin metal cans somewhat like oversized sardine tins, and an hors d’oeuvre in a more conventional can or tin. Current main courses include items such as beef salad, tuna and potatoes, salmon with rice and vegetables, shepherds pie, rabbit casserole, chili con carne, paella, veau marengo (veal), navarin d’agneau (lamb), poultry and spring vegetables, etc. Hors d’oeuvres include: salmon terrine, chicken liver, tuna in sauce, fish terrine, duck mousse, etc. Each meal box also contains a package of instant soup, hard crackers, cheese spread, chocolate, caramels or boiled sweets, instant caf-au-lait, sugar, cocoa powder, matches, a disposable folding ration heater
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