Cheese macaroni goes boldly where no man, woman or child has ever gone

In a giant leap forward for humanity, we are about to have macaroni and cheese on the moon.

Scientists at Washington State University announced that they had developed a way to triple the shelf life of packaged foods, using ready-to-eat macaroni and cheese as the basis of their experience. Currently, food-safe plastic packaging can safely keep food at room temperature for up to one year. With this new technological advance, macaroni and cheese can be held in suspended animation for three years. Taste testers said it was as good as freshly prepared.

Prior to packaging, the food is sterilized in a microwave-assisted thermal sterilization chamber. Just like with your microwave at home, foods can not be packaged in any type of metal. However, metal is the most effective material for preserving food because it creates a solid barrier against oxygen and other gases. The addition of a thin layer of metal oxide to a plastic film significantly reduces the time required for the passage of gases in food packaging. Although this technology has existed for almost ten years, it was unusable because the metal was developed during microwave sterilization. .

The new packaging covers the metal oxide of thin micro-layers of different plastic formulations. Each has a different purpose: some offer mechanical strength and others provide a good barrier against external particles. These layers help prevent microscopic cracks that would develop during the sterilization process.

Currently, scientists are working with the US military to apply this technology to its cooked dishes. The next step: the space. NASA requires all foods to have a shelf life of five years. Currently, WSU scientists are aging more packets of macaroni and cheese in an incubator set at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which speeds up the process of quality degradation. Nine months in the incubator equivalent to nine months at room temperature.

"NASA is aware of our work, but we are at the point of being able to talk to them with a proven product," said Shyam Sablani, the scientist who heads the WSU team. "We hope to find a way to test these products on the International Space Station in the future to show that food is safe after long-term storage."

Scientists have not revealed when this new technology would be available to the general public to store their apocalyptic bunkers. But at least tonight, humanity can rest easy, knowing that we will still be eating macaroni cheese at the end of the day.