Study of Military Meals Finds Low Nutrients, Concerning Contaminants

Health activists who organized the study are calling on the Trump administration to treat the U.S. food supply as a national security concern.

A U.S. Marine eats a military field ration during a field exercise at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Japan, on Dec. 11, 2025. Lance Cpl. Weston Brown/U.S. Marine Corps via DVIDS

America’s troops may be getting few of the nutrients they expect, and many harmful compounds they don’t, according to a new laboratory study of military rations and meals provided to troops on armed forces bases.

The nonprofit Moms Across America, working in collaboration with the military chapter of Children’s Health Defense and the Centner Academy, commissioned laboratory testing of 40 different military food samples to examine their nutritional value.