In 1954, development of three combat ration packs, for use by Australian Servicemen, was commenced. It commenced in Melbourne without the use of readily available laboratory facilities for the analyses of commercially processed foods and without the use of equipment for the production and testing of "mock-up" containers, either tinplate or fibreboard.
 
Nevertheless, during the ensuing four years, the following ration packs were developed and accepted into the Army supply system:  

 a. Emergency Ration.
 
 b. 24-hour (one man) Ration (now Combat Ration [One Man]).
 
 c. 10-man Composite Ration (now Combat Ration [10 Man]).
 
Concurrent with this program of work on rations, there were four other defence food science projects being conducted in Australia. They related to meat dehydration, glucose-free egg powder, fat anti-oxidants and the compression of dehydrated vegetables. The work on compression was undertaken in a small research station located at Scottsdale, Tasmania, adjoining the only large dehydration factory in Australia. The limited facilities at this station were also used, to a minor degree, during the development of ration packs.
 
In 1958, it was decided to progressively terminate all defence food research in Australia except that connected with the development of rations for the Armed Forces. By then the Australian Armed Forces had ration packs of their own and the many advantages in replacing "canned equivalent" rations with ration packs especially designed for Australian Servicemen were fully appreciated.
 
Also, at this time, special consideration was being given to the development of lightweight patrol rations which included compressed blocks of dehydrated meat and vegetables. For this work, laboratory facilities, and various items of equipment for compression, were needed. These were available at Scottsdale where research had practically ceased. Hence, it was convenient and logical for work on the development of ration packs and ration scales to be moved to this readily available research station and the transfer, rather automatically, took place.
 
As the Australian Army had the greatest interest in the development of ration packs and ration scales, the activities of the research station were placed under the control of Army, although they also included research and development for the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force. For the operation of the research station, the Army raised an appropriate establishment comprising civilians and servicemen. During the ensuing years various changes to this Establishment were made in the light of demonstrated needs for specialist personnel.
 
The original research station, in which work on compression had been conducted, was a World War Two building which had been moved to the site and appropriately modified. In 1965 Army added an
administrative block comprising library, conference room, offices, tea room and toilet facilities. In 1970 a large experimental
processing wing, new boiler house, laundry and Q-store complexes were added and land acquired for a car park.
 
By 1971 the range of activities of the Establishment had extended to cover work for all three Services, and this was reflected in a change of name to the Armed Forces Food Science Establishment. >in 1977 a large, new, prefabricated store was added, and in 1980 new laboratories were completed for nutrition, chemistry and
microbiology. A new library, engineering workshop and food museum were added also.
 
FUNCTION AND ROLES
 
 
FUNCTIONS
 
The Armed Forces Food Science Establishment is an element of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation which ahs the following functions:
 
 a. Provide scientific and technical advice on defence policy
     matters;  
 b. Provide scientific and technical support:
      (i) To the Australian Defence Force in its task of maintaining
          effective forces in being and for the development of those
          forces;
     (ii) For the acquisition of defence material; and
    (iii) For such other matters as specified by the Minister for
          Defence
  c. Maintain a technology base to support the Australian Defence,
     the Department of Defence and defence industry; and
  d. Carry out the initial development of selected prototype
     equipment, to meet approved Defence requirements.
 
 
ROLES
 
To discharge its functions, the Armed Forces Food Science
Establishment (AFFSE) is to:
 
    (i) Monitor and evaluate new developments in food manufacture
        that may have application to the Australian Defence Force,
        for development of special ration components, and the
        development of new rations;
 
   (ii) Conduct troop feeding trials under combat conditions to
        provide direct user response on the acceptability, adequacy
        and Service suitability of the rations;
 
  (iii) Perform chemical, microbiological and organoleptic analysis
        of foods and research into appropriate methodology;
 
   (iv) Investigate physiological requirements of Service personnel
        in relation to food and water needs in the military
        environment and to advise on and design survival packs;
 
    (v) Produce sufficient quantities of new products for field
        trials to guage service suitability;
 
   (vi) Produce Service food components for which the peace time
        demand is insufficient to attract commercial manufacture; and
 
 (viii) Liaise with industry on the development and promotion of
        foods, processes and equipment of interest to the AFFSE.
 
 c. Initiate and support research and development programs in food  
    science technology having defence potential in non-defence
    institutions in Australia.
 
 d. Foster international co-operation in Defence Food Science.  
 
GENERAL CHARTER
 
The charter would be relatively simple to fulfil if all Service personnel were engaged in normal civilian occupations and located in permanent barracks with regular supplies of fresh food, an ample supply of fresh water and adequate refrigeration and food
preparation facilities. But they are not. The majority, especially in time of war, are housed in tents and constantly on the move; many are engaged on long range patrols over rugged terrain, others fly at high altitutdes under confined conditions and some are in small ships subject to the incessant movement of the sea. Fresh foods may not be available and, in any case, are of little use when foods have to be transported long distances without refrigeration and then held for periods far in excess of their life as a fresh commodity.
 
Hence ration scales based on the utilisation of non-perishable foods have to be developed. Non-perishable foods are those that have a satisfactory storage life when stored for considerable periods under tropical conditions. For test purposes, they must have a
reasonable level of consumer acceptance after being stored for two years at 30oC. Most commercially processed foods will not meet the requirements of the Armed Forces. The preparation of such
specifications is a continuing and major responsibility of the Establishment.
 
In translating energy and nutrient requirements into ration packs, great care is taken to ascertain, by means of large scale troop feeding trials, the troop acceptability of each component in a ration pack. This normally requires several troop feeding trials to ensure that only components with high degrees of acceptability are included in the final design. It also ensures that the ration packs have the smallest possible weight and volume. It keeps wastage to a minimum and, as a result, keeps the cost of feeding to a minimum.  
For a soldier on patrol the length of the patrol is normally
determined by the amount of food he can carry. Hence patrol rations must be as small in volume and light in weight as possible. When all technological means of reducing volume and weight have been exhausted: trimming of bones and other inedible material, removal of as much water as possible, increasing energy value by the
addition of fat and use of pouches instead of cans; the only avenue left is to determine to what extent food consumption can be reduced without impairing combat effectiveness. This, and its many related problems, is a major activity of the Establishment.
 
Ration packs for survival purposes require special consideration. The Services mainly concerned are the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force. Survival packs for both these Forces have been developed and are constantly under review. Nevertheless, it is fully realised that, under survival conditions, water is far more important than solid food. Therefore, the Establishment also  
investigates the means of providing safe water in survival
conditions.
 
Other major activities, complementary to the foregoing, that lie within the charter of the Establishment are hot-air drying, freeze drying, explosive puffing and compression of various foodstuffs. The Establishment conducts research into various aspects of each process and is well equipped with pilot plant for small scale production. It only engages in production on a larger scale when  
private industry is unable to meet the requirement for a product that has been developed and is required by the Defence Forces.  
Towards the end of each calendar year, the three Services are invited to submit for consideration problems that might be
investigated by the Establishment. Each submission is carefully investigated, firstly to decide if a problem really exists and then, whether the Establishment is the best place in which to have it investigated. Some problems might best be investigated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, other government departments or private industry.
 
If it is agreed that a scientific or technical problem exists, and that it can best be investigated by the Establishment, it is
developed formally into a task and submitted for inclusion in the DSTO Planning Base. All tasks are reviewed annually for financial support and six monthly for scientific progress. Annual reports are made for sponsor information and continued support. Urgent tasks can be implemented if required, and these do not have to wait for the annual processes.
 
Consultation with other authorities such as CSIRO, Commonwealth and State Departments and the commercial food industry is undertaken before any new research programs are begun. The AFFSE endeavours to foster co-operation at all levels with others in the food industry to achieve maximum use of resources and prevent any duplication of effort. Co-operative projects are entered into with other groups where equipment or expertise can be shared for mutual benefit.  
 
ORGANISATION
 
The Establishment is organised into the following sections, Food Science, Food Technology, Experimental Processing, Nutrition and Physiology, Engineering Design and Maintenance and Administration. However, the Establishment operates on an integrated basis as many tasks involve more than one section.
 
 
FOOD SCIENCE
 
The section has responsibility for chemical and microbiological analysis of foods and research into the appropriate methodology.  
Chemical analyses are conducted for protein, fat carbohydrates, water, ash, metals, vitamins, preservatives and pesticides. A wide selection of modern instruments is available to undertake the above analyses. It includes gas and liquid chromatographs,
spectrophotometers and an elemental analyser. Many of these
instruments are automated with necessary computer facilities.  
The principal products examined are complete ration packs used by the Defence Forces, including Combat Ration (One Man) - CR1M, Combat Ration (Ten Men) - CR10M, Patrol Ration (One Man) - PR1M, and the Emergency Flying Ration - EFR. If required by the Establishment's research program, new commercial products, experimental products and indigenous foods (bush foods) are also examined.
 
Microbiological examinations are conducted on locally produced and other good samples for quality control purposes, and investigations are conducted to determine standards which ought to be expected in commercial production. Facilities available are adequate for the determination of total viable plate counts, detection of yeasts and moulds and the culture and identification of possible food
contaminants.
 
Methods used conform to the Australian Defence Force Food
Specifications and the Standards Association of Australia. The laboratories are registered with the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) and participate in Australia-wide testing
programs to validate methods.
 
 
FOOD TECHNOLOGY
 
The section has responsibility for monitoring new developments in food manufacture that may have application to the Defence Forces, for development of special ration components, and in conjunction with the Nutrition section, development of new rations. All ration components are organoleptically tested both before and after storage at elevated temperatures, and for this, controlled temperature and humidity rooms and a taste testing kitchen and booths are available.  
As most foods contain 60 to 90 per cent water there is considerable emphasis in the section on methods of food dehydration as well as compression. Equipment includes spray, roller, tray, belt trough, bin and freeze-drying are very important in relation to consumer acceptability. This section uses a texturometer tester for such studies.
 
Packaging is an integral part of food processing technology of special significance to Defence Food Science. The evaluation of flexible packaging systems to minimise mass and reduce wastage disposal problems is a further activity of the section.
 
 
EXPERIMENTAL PROCESSING
 
The section is under the control of the Food Technology section and works closely with the Engineering Design and Maintenance section.  
It has two functions. One is to produce sufficient quantities of new products for field trails on a large enough scale to guage service suitability, while at the same time determining any changes that are necessary in scaling up manufacture to a commercial level. The second function of the section is to produce Service Food components for which the peace-time demand is insufficient to attract commercial manufacturers. A major activity in recent years has been a detailed study of processing parameters in freeze-drying of composite meals. This research and development program has achieved international acclaim and has led to the development of a new combat ration feeding system for the Defence Force.
 
Other work carried out by the section includes packaging on a small scale of speciality items which include the Australian Army
Emergency Ration, the Emergency Flying Ration, Emergency Water and an Emergency Ration for use by RAAF Pilots.
 
 
NUTRITION/PHYSIOLOGY
 
The role of the Nutrition/Physiology section is synonymous with the charter of the Armed Forces Food Science Establishment -- that is the assessment of the nutritional requirements of Servicemen under the various conditions in which they may be required to operate and the translation of these requirements into practical ration scales and ration packs suitable for use under Service conditions.
 
This role is achieved by adopting a multidisciplinary approach and considerable time and effort are directed at liaising with the Service, industry and other section of the AFFSE to ensure that the Service consumer is provided with nutritious, wholesome and
acceptable foods in line with his or her activities.
 
 
Extensive troop feeding trials under combat conditions constiture an extremely important activity for the section, as they provide direct user feed-back on the acceptability, adequacy and Service
suitability of the rations. The data from the trials enable
necessary modifications to be made to the rations to achieve
consumer acceptability. Combat efficiency, food cost and wastage are accorded high priority in such work.
 
The range of rations for which the section has responsibility includes ration packs designed for emergency and survival purposes, rations for extended patrolling and assault purposes, situations were there is little guarantee of daily provisioning and rations which are not packaged but provided according to a scale.
 
A further major activity of the Nutrition-Physiology section is a regular review of the Australian Defence Force Ration Scales to ensure that the issue is based on sound nutritional practices while providing maximum flexibility in the choice of food items. Food usage and wastage surveys in static messes are conducted as part of this activity. Physiological studies under survival conditions are performed to assess food and water requirements.
 
 
ENGINEERING DESIGN AND MAINTENANCE
 
The size, location and type of research and development programs undertaken by the AFFSE Historical agency address76 George Street, Scottsdale, Tas

Superior agency unregistered

1971-1974: Subject to further research 
1974     : Defence Science Establishment 
1975-1976: Australian Defence Science Service 
1977     : Australian Defence Scientific Service 
1978-1981: Defence Science and Technology Organisation 
1982     : Research and Development Laboratories 
1983-    : Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Summary heading

CA 6154 – previous agency titles

Previous titles

1971 - 1988: Armed Forces Food Science Establishment

1988 - 1995: Materials Research Laboratory, Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), Tasmania

1995 - 1997: Defence Food Science Centre [Scottsdale], Tasmania

1997 - by 2010: Defence Nutrition Research Centre [Scottsdale, Tasmania]

By 2010 - : Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) Scottsdale