They wouldn't be out of place in a gourmet restaurant, but strawberry porridge and muesli will now be enjoyed by British troops on the front line.草莓麥片粥和麥片干果什錦本是標準的餐館菜肴，而如今英國野戰軍也能享用到它們。
Gone are biscuit brown and bully beef and in their place are Oreo cookies, Thai green curry and salmon pasta meals designed to provide troops with the minimum 4,000 calories a day they need.過去的壓縮餅干和牛肉罐頭變成了現在的奧利奧夾心餅干，泰國咖喱飯和鮭魚意大利面片。這些食品可以為士兵提供一天所需的最少4000大卡的熱量。
The new 24-hour multi-climate ration packs, unveiled today, have been created to withstand extreme temperatures and provide variety of meals to suit all tastes.今天揭開了神秘面紗的這種新式24小時全天候野戰食品袋可以經受住極端溫度，且可以滿足需求的多樣性和口味的多樣化。
The Ministry of Defence launched the 20 new menus along with 18 halal, vegetarian and Sikh and Hindu variations.國防部公布了20種新食譜，包括18種清真、素食以及錫克族和印度食品。
The new packs were sent to Afghanistan last week to be tried out by personnel in all armed forces across the next three months.新的食品袋已于上周送到阿富汗前線，那里的武裝士兵將試吃3個月。
The overhaul of the old packs, which had just 25 different menus, began 18 months ago after soldiers complained there was not enough variation to encourage them to eat.舊食品包含有25種食譜，在使用了18個月后，士兵們抱怨種類太少，勾不起他們的食欲。
Lieutenant Commander Neil Horwood, project manager of operation ration packs, said the new menus have been drawn up by soldiers who have recently returned from operations in Afghanistan.負責野戰食品供應的尼爾?霍爾伍德中校表示，新的食譜是由剛剛從阿富汗前線回來的士兵們自己起草的。
"The problem with the old packs was duplication, which meant that if you were eating the same thing for four months, 80 per cent of the ration packs were the same--no one wants to eat baked beans for breakfast every day for four months," he said. 霍爾伍德說：“老的野戰食品袋最大的問題是單調重復。如果你吃上四個月的野戰食品，食品袋里80%的東西都是一樣的。沒有人愿意每天早上都吃罐頭煮黃豆，而且一連吃上四個月。”
"In an environment that will naturally suppress your appetite, we need to tempt troops to eat more."“惡劣的環境肯定會抑制人的食欲，所以我們需要想辦法讓士兵們多吃東西。”
Each ration pack has an 18-month shelf life and includes a mixture of dry foods and boil-in-the-bag pouches, as well as sachets of seasoning and tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce.新的食品袋可以保質18個月，內有干食品和袋裝加熱食品，還有小包裝調料和小瓶極辣的辣椒醬。
The new ration packs are easy and light to carry, you can fold them over even when they are full and fit them into your pocket.新的食品袋重量輕、攜帶方便，即便滿袋的食品也可以輕松折疊放入兜里。
"The feedback so far from troops has been positive but I think the real test will be in three months' time when they have had a chance to really try them out," Lt Cdr Horwood said.霍爾伍德中校說：“目前士兵對于新食品反響不錯，但我認為三個月的試吃才能檢驗出它們是不是真的讓士兵滿意。”
（英語點津Jennifer編輯）
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