Dad was a food research chemist* with the Quartermaster Corps/Natick R&D. The mission was to cram as many calories into as small a package, that would remain edible for as long as possible, in such a manner that a hungry troop would actually choke it down. Shape/size/weight were often driving forces due to the amount of space available/allotted to delivery. Eye appeal never entered into the equation, even when "volunteer" taste testers commented on the resemblance to various objects (turd, vomit, roadkill were so frequently referrenced that the lab folks stopped worrying about that as a negative rating.)
What few understand is that what is provided to the troops is what survived a line of other stuff that was rejected. There were a few absolutely wonderful, tasty meals that came out, but for the most part ppalatability was defined as what could (not "would") be choked down and held down that met the caloric/vitamins/minerals/electrolytes goal.
There were also lots of good and amazing things that came out of Natick Food Labs. Flash dehydration improved on flash freezing. Untrapasteurization morphed from milk to all sorts of "liquid" foods. Lots of what Gerber and Beechnut do with baby foods is with patents that came out of Natick. And the list goes on.
Sadly, except for the LRRP ChiliMac all I got were the not-ready-for-prime-time menu items. Yes, those bastages took stuff home to try on their families before they exposed the taste testers to it.
stay safe.
* - He's the guy that developed the process that kept fats suspended in the food matrix, as opposed to rising to the top and taking on the appearance of a hockey puck. Thanks to him warehouse workers needed to flip stuff once every 10 years, as opposed to every two years.
