To decrease the mass of the space food system and still maintain the nutritional intake of a mission crew, meal replacement bars and beverages are desired to supplement the menu and serve as meal alternatives. Nutritional requirements for such replacement products for breakfast and lunch have been established based on the current nutritional delivery of the International Space Station standard menu.

The current space food system is comprised of single-serving, prepackaged food items. A number of packages are then combined to form each meal consumed in space. The Final Report for the Packaged Food Mass Reduction Trade Study estimated that the addition of one meal replacement bar per day per crewmember would decrease the mass of the packaged food system by 240 g. Combining reduced moisture and increased fat, food reformulations with the meal replacement options were projected to produce a food mass net reduction of 36%, from 1.81 kg to 1.28 kg per person per day. The study has defined an ideal product to be one that provides up to 50% of the calories from fat, 15% from protein, and 35% from carbohydrates. Total carbohydrate content should contain no more than 25% simple sugars and be comprised of no sugar alcohols.

The innovation is a design framework for the development of a meal replacement product suitable for incorporation in the space food system. Five requirement planks form the framework:

  1. Shelf life of at least 2 years at ambient storage conditions.
  2. Nutritional requirements based on active individual with balanced, varied diet.
  3. Overall product acceptability of 6.0 on 9.0-Hedonic scale.
  4. Can be rehydrated at point of consumption if necessary.
  5. Must remain intact through packaging and shipping, and provide adequate cohesion to support biting without crumbing.

The resultant product will differentiate from products on the commercial market in three main areas:

  1. The nutritional composition will be distinct in the higher calorie offering, ratio of the macronutrients, and the micronutrient delivery, particularly if development allows for use of real food materials rather than fortification blends.
  2. The product will have unique flavors to complement dining in space.
  3. The texture, density, and size of the product will be dictated by necessary nutritional requirements and may vary greatly from commercial bars.

The shelf life will be longer than most shelf-stable commercial products, and the completed product will be able to be consumed for long periods without adverse health effects (in contrast to bars with heavy saturated fat).

This work was done by Maya Cooper of Lockheed Martin for Johnson Space Center. For further information, contact the JSC Technology Transfer Office at (281) 483-3809. MSC-25322-1