Abstract:
The food requirement for Defense services in Sri Lanka is mainly fulfilled with imported food supplements known as Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) products which take much cost especially for the importation. Food manufacturers are mainly concerned on shelf stability of MRE products since they should have the ability to withstand various climatic conditions in their fields and need to be kept for along without any quality deterioration. Thus the study was carried out to assess the shelf stability of canned Sri Lankan MRE products including five types of meals stored under room temperature for two months period. Shelf stability was evaluated using TPC, E. coli, salmonella, pH of food and sensorial changes for two weeks intervals. The results were revealed the safety of the products without any sensorial rejection and confirming microbial and chemical conformity according to the Sri Lankan standard limits for the particular two months time duration.
