You're looking at the U.S. military's latest and greatest creation: pizza that can last for up to three years without refrigeration!

Based on demand from soldiers, the U.S. military has been working hard to make pizza MREs (meals ready to eat) a reality. The researchers spent two years engineering a pizza recipe with a shelf life of three years. The biggest challenge was to figure out how to keep it from growing mold and bacteria.

They solved it using "humectants…sugar, salts and syrups…that bind to water and keep it from getting to the dough" as well as tweaking acidity and adding iron fillings to prevent air and moisture from ruining the pizza dough.

Still, the pizza isn't quite ready for serving just yet, but food technologists who have tried prototypes of it liken it to pan pizza. Topping options for the MRE pizza will include pepperoni and turkey pepperoni.

Could this be used in space as well?

[Associated Press]