Canadian IMP

The Canadian Armed Forces use a ration called the “Individual Meal Pack” or IMP.

Each meal pack comes with one main entree, a dessert, several types of beverages, a hard candy, and a package of cookies or a chocolate bar. The package may also include such accessories as instant soup mix, instant mashed potatoes or instant
rice.

A single IMP contains food for one meal — breakfast, lunch, or dinner — for one person. It is packaged in a way that makes it compact and lightweight. The main courses can be eaten cold or hot by placing the pouches in boiling
water for five minutes. U.S. Flameless Ration Heaters (not included in IMPs) can also be used to heat IMP entrees.

Introduced in 1981, the average cost of a ration pack is $7.50, and 1.5 million kits are packaged annually.

 

Cases of IMPs 3 Different Types of IMPs IMP Contents
IMP Cases Various Canadians IMP Canadian IMP Contents

 

Official Individual Meal Pack (IMP) Combat Ration Info

Purpose: to sustain the nourishing needs of military personnel for one meal-day. Easy to heat, consumable
without heating, resistant to damage during transportation, not expected to be used for more than 30 consecutive days.

NATO requirement Canadian ration
  • provide minimum 3200 calories and maximum appropriate to energy
  • expenditure of personnel undergoing continuous and strenuous physical activity
  • at least 10% of calories from protein, 35 – 40% from fat
  • vitamin and mineral content to satisfy U.S. Food and Nutrition Board
  • contain some ready-to-eat items that can be eaten without addition of water, heating, or mixing
  • should include a bread equivalent, spread for bread (cheese, jam, etc), instant beverage powder
  • shelf life 2 years
  • 3 meals in one day provide approximately 3600 calories, which is adequate for most operational activities. May be supplemented with LMC as required
  • meets Nutrition Recommendations for Canadians except Calcium and folic acid (not significant if consumption period is less than 30 consecutive days)
  • meets all other requirements
  • NSN 8970-21-887-9548 (breakfast/lunch)
  • NSN 8970-21-887-9549 (lunch)
  • NSN 8970-21-887-9550 (supper)
  • shelf life 3 years from date of assembly

 

IMP menus

2008 IMP Menus (Click here for the full menus )

Menu #

Breakfast Lunch Supper

1

Ham Steak w/Mustard Sauce Hungarian Goulash Navarin

2

Beans with Wieners in Tomato Sauce Pork with Herbs and Wine Sauce Tarragon Chicken

3

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham Macaroni w/Cheese Sauce Chicken Breast Cacciatore

4

Sausage and Hash Browns Turkey and Vegetable Stew Cabbage Rolls and Tomato Sauce

5

Sausage Links Beef Ravioli Salisbury Steak Dinner

6

Omelette w/Salsa Beef Chop Suey Cheese Tortellini in Marinara Sauce

2007 IMP Menus

2006 IMP Menus

IMP Menu 2004
Meats Fruits & Desserts Miscellaneous
  • Ham Steak w/ Mustard
  • Scalloped Potatoes & Ham
  • Sausage & Hash browns
  • Beans & Wieners In Tomato sauce
  • Omelette w/ Mushroom Sauce
  • Breakfast Sausages
  • Thai Chicken
  • Cheese Ravioli’ Ub Rosee Sauce
  • Chicken Casserole w/ Rice
  • Salmon Filet Nature
  • Beef & Veggie Stew
  • Shepherds Pie
  • Beef Macaroni w/ Tomato Sauce
  • Pot Roast w/ Mushroom Sauce
  • Lasagna w/ Meat and Tomato Sauce
  • Chicken Breast w/ Gravy
  • Veal Cutlet w/ Lemon Sauce
  • Peaches
  • Fruit Cocktail
  • Pears
  • Pineapple
  • Raspberry Apple Sauce
  • Spicy Apple Compote
  • Cherries
  • Sliced Apples
  • Apple Sauce
  • Baked Chocolate Dessert
  • Blueberries
  • Crunchie Cereals
  • Cinnamon Oatmeal
  • Banana Oatmeal
  • Instant Dressing Mix
  • Instant Butter Garlic Rice
  • Instant Vegetable Rice
  • Sour Cream & Chives Mashed Potatoes
  • Bread
  • Assorted Cookies & Crackers
  • Assorted Chocolate Bars
  • Jam,Jellies, & Marmalade
  • Condiments
  • Butterscotch Pudding
Beverages Soups
  • Coffee – AssortedTea
  • Hot Chocolate – Assorted
  • Herbal Tea – Assorted
  • Lemon Drink
  • Mango Drink
  • Orange – Pineapple Drink
  • Cherry Drink
  • Strawberry Drink
  • Passion Fruit Drink
  • Chicken Noodle Soup
  • French Onion Soup
  • Beef Vegetable Soup

 

IMP Menu 2002 Click here for the full menu listing.
Breakfast/Lunch Lunch/Dinner Supper
1 – Beans and Wieners in Tomato Sauce

2 – Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

3 – Sausage and Hash Browns

4 – Ham Steak w/ Mustard Sauce

5 – Cheese Omelette w/ Mushroom Sauce

1 – Rotini Primavera

2 – Green Pepper Beef

3 – Penne Rigati w/Meat and Tomato Sauce

4 – Shepherd’s Pie

5 – Turkey and Vegetable Stew

6 – Hungarian Goulash

1 – Lasagna with Meat in Tomato Sauce

2 – Tarragon Chicken Strips

3 – Pork Chow Mein

4 – Veal Cutlet w/Mushroom Sauce

5 – Salisbury Steak Dinner

6 – Salmon Filet Nature

 

IMP Menu 2001
Breakfast/Lunch Lunch/Dinner Supper
1 – BBQ Beans & Frankfurters

2 – Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

3 – Sausage & Hash Browns

4 – Ham Steak with Mustard Sauce

5 – Cheese Omelets with Salsa

1 – Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce

2 – Chicken Casserole with Rice

3 – Chili Con Carne

4 – Sweet & Sour Pork

5 – Beef Bourgignon

6 – Beef Ravioli

1 – Cabbage Rolls

2 – Chicken Breast Cacciatore

3 – Meatballs with Herb Sauce

4 – Pork with Herb & Wine Sauce

5 – Beef Stroganoff

6 – Salmon Filet Nature

 

IMP Menu 1997/1998
Meats Fruits & Desserts Miscellaneous
  • Ham Steak in Pineapple Sauce
  • Beans and Wieners
  • Sausage and Hash Browns
  • Macaroni & Cheese
  • Beef & Vegetable Stew
  • Cabbage Rolls
  • Shepherd’s Pie
  • Beef Chop Suey
  • Beef Macaroni & Tomato Sauce
  • Salisbury Steak
  • Lasagna
  • Turkey and Vegetable Stew
  • Chicken Breast and Gravy
  • Veal Cutlet & Lemon Sauce
  • Hungarian Goulash
  • Meatballs in Gravy
  • Peaches
  • Fruit Cocktail
  • Pears
  • Pineapple Tidbits
  • Cherries
  • Apples
  • Apple Sauce
  • Baked Cherry Dessert
  • Blueberry Apple Cereal
  • Crunchie Cereal
  • Maple Oatmeal Cereal
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Dressing Mix
  • Lemon Pudding
  • Assorted Jams
  • Bread
  • Mini Biscuits
  • Caramel Pudding
  • Steak Sauce
  • Pepper Sauce
  • Cranberry Jelly
  • Plain Rice
Beverages Soups
  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Hot Chocolate
  • Orange
  • Passion Fruit
  • Grape
  • Mixed Fruit
  • Lemon
  • Peach
  • Cappuccino Coffee
  • Cream of Chicken
  • Onion
  • Vegetable Beef
  • Cream of Mushroom
  • Chicken Noodle
  • Mediterranean Chicken

 

Various IMP Menu Entrees

Breakfast menus

  • ham steak w/mustard sauce
  • sausage and hash browns
  • beans and wieners
  • scalloped potatoes and ham
  • cheese omelette w/salsa
Lunch menus

  • chicken a la king
  • beef chop suey
  • macaroni w/cheese sauce
  • beef teriyaki
  • spaghetti w/meatballs
  • zesty turkey and vegetable stew
Dinner menus

  • cannelloni w/meat in rosee sauce
  • chicken breast w/brown gravy
  • veal cutlet w/lemon sauce
  • meatloaf w/onion sauce
  • salmon filet nature
  • beef steak w/brown gravy

Dessert Pack

  • sliced pears, cherries, apples, peaches, apple sauce, fruit cocktail,cherry
    dessert or blueberries.
  • candy, bread, jam, honey or peanut butter, salt, pepper, sugar, coffee,
    creamer, spoon, handy wipe, napkin, tooth pick, matches, cookies or a chocolate
    bar
  • might also contain mashed potatoes or rice depending on the meal

 

IMP Entrees

Some IMP entrees are produced by a company called “Freddy Chef” while others are produced by the American MRE manufacturer “The Wornick Company”. Here is an example of what the Freddy Chef entrees look like:

Freddy Chef IMP Freddy Chef IMP with cooking instructions

The IMP entrees are a little bit bigger/heavier than the US MRE entrees:

IMP Entree MRE Entree
8.8 oz. (250g) 8 oz. (226g)

Some people say the IMP entrees have “more food than an MRE entree” but from the IMP entrees I’ve seen/eaten, there’s a lot more water (sauce, etc.) in the IMP entrees. Substance-wise, you get about the same amount of calories per entree no matter which one you eat.