Space Food
Published: October 12, 2018
ISS food comes in three forms: natural form, rehydratable, and thermostabilized. Half of the food is provided by NASA and the other half by Russia.
Natural Form (NF) refers to food that does not need to be processed
Examples: Crackers, tortillas, nuts, granola bars, condiments, candy, and cookies.
Rehydratable (R) foods have had the water removed from them. Once the crew are ready to eat, hot water is injected into the pouch to restore the food to its normal form.
Examples: Cottage cheese, shrimp cocktail, scrambled eggs, noodles, mashed potatoes, quiche, borsch, milk, rice, macaroni & cheese, sausage patties, teriyaki vegetables, spaghetti with meat sauce, and grits.
Thermostabilized (T) foods are heated to a level sufficient to kill harmful microorganisms and enzymes and then packaged in cans, cups, or pouches.
Examples: Chopped pork with eggs, beef with vegetables, split pea soup, pike perch in Baltika sauce, tofu with Hoisin sauce, minestrone soup, grilled pork chop, tomato basil soup, chicken in white sauce, African sweet potato and peanut soup, and lasagna.