K-ration Facts for Kids

The K-ration was a special type of food package used by the United States Army during World War II. It was designed to be a small, individual meal for soldiers who were on the move, like airborne troops (paratroopers), tank crews, and motorcycle riders. Each K-ration provided three separate meals: Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper.

History of the K-Ration
- Early Use and Problems
What Was Inside the K-Ration?
How Was It Packaged?
Challenges and Criticisms
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History of the K-Ration

In 1941, a scientist named Ancel Keys from the University of Minnesota was asked by the U.S. War Department to create a new kind of soldier's meal. This meal needed to be easy to carry, not spoil, and ready to eat.

Keys went to a local supermarket to find simple, cheap foods that would give soldiers enough energy. He bought things like hard biscuits, dry sausages, hard candy, and chocolate bars. He tested his new meals, which weighed about 28 ounces (790 grams) and had 3200 calories, on six soldiers. The soldiers said the food was "palatable" (okay to eat) and "better than nothing." But it did help them feel full and gave them energy.

The K-ration was first meant for short missions, lasting only a few days. It was sometimes called the "paratrooper ration" because paratroopers were the first to try it out. The letter "K" was chosen for the ration's name simply because it sounded different from other ration names.

Early Use and Problems

The K-ration was first used in 1942. Soldiers liked it at first because it had different foods and was light to carry. However, it wasn't tested much in tough environments like jungles or very cold places. For example, a jungle test in Panama only lasted three days, and soldiers mostly walked on clear roads, not through thick jungle.

After these short tests, the K-ration was thought to be very successful. This led to the Army stopping the production of other special rations like the "Mountain ration" and "Jungle ration." The Army decided that the K-ration could meet all the needs for front-line troops, even though it was originally designed only for short, emergency use.

A big problem with the K-ration was that it didn't provide enough calories or vitamins for soldiers who were fighting hard, digging, or marching long distances. A K-ration provided about 2830 calories per day. This was much less than what active soldiers needed, especially in extreme heat or cold. Eating the same three meals every day also made the food very boring over time.

What Was Inside the K-Ration?

Each K-ration box contained three separate meal units: Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper.

Breakfast Unit: This meal usually had canned chopped ham and eggs, biscuits, a dried fruit bar or oatmeal cereal, water purification tablets (Halazone), cigarettes, chewing gum, instant coffee, toilet paper, and sugar.
Dinner Unit: For dinner, soldiers might get canned processed cheese or bacon and cheese. It also included biscuits, caramels, sugar, a salt packet, cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, and a powdered drink mix (like lemon, orange, or grape).
Supper Unit: The supper meal often had canned meat (like pork or beef loaf), biscuits, a chocolate bar, toilet paper, cigarettes, chewing gum, and a bouillon packet (for soup).

In total, these three meals gave about 2,830 calories and 79 grams of protein. The K-ration was made by big food companies like H. J. Heinz and The Cracker Jack Company.

How Was It Packaged?

The K-ration came in a rectangular cardboard box. The first boxes were tan with black writing. Later, they made "Morale Series" boxes that were color-coded to make it easier to tell the meals apart:

Breakfast boxes had brown printing and a brown "B."
Dinner boxes had blue printing and a blue "D."
Supper boxes had olive drab (greenish-brown) printing and an olive drab "S."

The outer box was made of chemically-treated cardboard, and there was a waterproof, waxed-cardboard inner box to protect the food. Soldiers sometimes used the waxed carton to help start small fires.

The main canned food came in a small, round green can. It often had a special "twist key" to open it. Later versions used a standard P-38 can opener. Each meal also included two packs of crackers, a pack of cigarettes, and chewing gum. Some meals also had special items like matches or water purification tablets.

Soldiers' uniforms, like the U.S. Army M-1943 field uniform, even had large pockets designed to perfectly fit a K-ration box.

Challenges and Criticisms

As the war continued, soldiers had to eat K-rations for many days, sometimes even more than a week. Because the K-ration didn't provide enough calories for highly active soldiers, many troops started to lose weight and suffer from malnutrition (not getting enough nutrients).

For example, during the Italian campaign, many soldiers lost weight. Doctors noticed they had less body fat and muscle, and needed lots of food and rest, plus Vitamin C.

In the China-Burma-India area, soldiers like Merrill's Marauders and British Chindit forces often lived mostly on K-rations for five months. They lost a lot of weight (around 35 pounds per person) and suffered from vitamin deficiencies, which made them more likely to get tropical diseases. Some soldiers even got sick just from seeing a box of K-rations after eating them for so long!

Some parts of the K-ration, like the fatty pork or the very sour lemon powder, were so unappetizing that soldiers would throw them away. This meant they got even fewer calories. Sometimes, extra food like a chocolate bar or fresh oranges was given to try and add more calories and vitamins.

By the end of World War II, millions of K-rations had been made. However, the Army decided to stop using them. They switched back to heavier canned rations like the C-ration because they were cheaper to buy and store. In 1948, the K-ration was officially declared outdated.