Retort pouch: A form of food packaging made from flexible plastic or foil that allows foods to be packaged as sterile.

The shelf life makes it an excellent addition for camping, rations and emergency kits.
These materials have high moisture barrier properties and are used successfully for packaging of ready-to-eat high moisture meat-based foods.
The meals packaged in the retort bag doesn’t need to be refrigerated or frozen, and contains a stable shelf life, comparable to metal cans, an easy task to sell, and convenient for home use.

In 2012, the Campbell Soup Company introduced its Go line of ready-to-eat soups in stand-up retort pouches to American consumers.
The product launch was included with a marketing campaign targeted toward Millennials, who’ve shown reluctance to purchasing other Campbell Soup products in past times.
The retort pouch was invented by america Army Natick R&D Command, Reynolds Metals Company, and Continental Flexible Packaging.
In this system food that is first prepared is sealed in to the retort pouch.
The pouch is then heated to 240–250°F (116–121°C) for a few minutes under ruthless, inside retort or autoclave machines.

• In the consumer market, retort pouches have gained great popularity outside of the USA, particularly in the Pacific Rim region.
• Concern concerning the safety of some fish products exists, particularly when taking into consideration the potential abuse caused by storage temperature.
• So, North America currently dominates the retort packaging industry and is likely to be the fastest-growing region.

The demand for aseptic pouches because of its adoption in ready-to-drink and dairy-based beverages.
There is a growing consumer demand for top quality convenient ready-to-eat food products and has resulted in an increase in the industry production of ready-to-eat products .
This special category of food has been defined as a catering system on the partial cooking of food accompanied by thermal processing under elevated temperature, storage in ambient condition and subsequent thorough re-heating before consumption.

A blank-fed, retortable, square-shaped paperboard carton for soups, ready meals, vegetables and pet food was commercialized by Tetra Pak in 2003 as an alternative for the metal can and a competitor for the retort pouch; it really is known as Tetra Recart®.