Germany uses a ration called the Einmannpackung (Combat Ration, Individual), or EPa for short. Each EPa is intended to provide two substantial meals. From what I’ve been told, there used to be four menus, or “Types” of EPas – Types I, II, III, and IV. When the two Germanies reunited, the Bundeswehr felt that there would no longer be any need to stockpile rations so they started phasing them out. Shortly after that, however, Germany was called upon for UN Peacekeeping duties and the German planners had to revive the rations for the troops. During this revival, they settled back into having three EPa Types.

Each EPa has several heavy duty foil trays containing things like Green Beans with Ham, Italian Noodles, Goulash, or Pea Soup with Bacon. They also contain two smaller foil “cans” of bread spreads such as liverwurst or luncheon meat spread. The meal box also includes instant fruit juice powder, instant coffee, instant tea, powdered cream, a really good chocolate bar, sugar, salt, gum, jam, water purifying tablets, and paper towels.

Current EPa Menus

GERMANY – Einmannpackung Contents
		Type Number
Ingredients Listing	Grams	I	II	III	Comments
Main Courses
Lentil Stew With Sausages	300	1
Tagliatelle Bolognese	300	1
Cevapcicci (Yugoslavian Sausages)	300		1
Goulash With Potatoes	300		1
Vegetable Stir Fry With Tofu	300			1	Vegetarian
Beef Patties With Tomato Sauce	300			1	Beef only
Sandwich Spreads
Beef Sausage	50	1		1	Beef only
Lyoner Sausage, Beef	50			1	Beef only
Cheese Spread, Plain	50		1
Cheese Spread, With Green Peppercorns	50	1		1
Liverwurst, Coarse	50		1
Beerwurst	50	1	1
Jam, Apricot	25	1	1
Jam, Black Currant	25	1		1
Jam, Sour Cherry	25		1	1
Bread & Biscuits
Bread, Whole Rye, Sliced	170	1	1	1
Biscuits, Digestive	125	1	1	1
Beverages
Instant Coffee	3.5	2	2	2	Creates 300 ml
Tea Bags	1.2	2	2	2	Creates 400 ml
Fruit Beverage Powder Mix, Assorted Flavours	32.5	4	4	4	Creates 400 ml, with Vitamins & Minerals
Snacks
Fruit Salad	150		1
Cream Of Wheat	150	1		1
Chocolate Bar	50	1	1	1
Chewing Gum	Package	1	1	1	10 Pieces
Accessories
Coffee Whitener	3	2	2	2
Sugar	12.5	4	4	4
Salt	1.5	1	1	1
Miscellaneous
Paper, Multi-Purpose (Toilet Tissue)	Pieces	4	4	4
Moist Towelette, Plain	Pieces	1	1	1
Matches	Book	1	1	1
Water Purification Tablets	Strip	2	2	2	Each Strip Holds 4 Tablets
Sheet, Contents Listing	Pieces	1	1	1
Plastic Bag, Multipurpose	Pieces	2	2	2

(click here for a MS Word version of the menu, courtesy Mirage)

Each EPa comes with a sheet listing the contents. Click on one of the images below for the full-sized version: