Some of the aquanauts objected to the plastic flatware. The breakage rate 

 was high and there was a negative psychological effect associated with the 

 use of disposable plastic eating utensils. Silver or stainless steel 

 utensils were more acceptable even though additional work was required for 

 cleansing and sanitizing. 



Aluminum serving trays also had an effect on food acceptance because of the 

 connotation of "T.V, Dinner" quality even though the quality of these foods 

 was very high. 



A procedure which is extremely important to the Skylab medical experiment 

 M071 "Mineral Balance" is food accountability. 



Some difficulties were encountered in food accountability. A set of food 

 rating cards was provided with each meal. Each aquanaut was to rate each 

 food item in the meal during or immediately after the meal. A running 

 inventory was also to be kept on all snack items supplied to dive subjects. 

 These data, along with crew debriefing comments, were expected to provide 

 an accurate accounting of food intake by each crew member. 



In practice this system was deficient in several ways. First, some crews 

 were not sufficiently aware of the importance of food accountability or 

 familiar with the forms involved in collecting this information. Secondly, 

 the ground support personnel handling the food system were not always 

 completely cognizant of all aspects of the system. 



Experience with food accountability procedures in TEKTITE II point up the 

 importance of thorough crew briefing. Only when participants in a project 

 understand the goals and operation of a system, can they provide the required 

 information. The problems encountered in preparing, preserving, and 

 handling frozen foods most certainly were unique to project TEKTITE II and 

 its location. Evaluation of the techniques employed did, however, provide 

 valuable information. 



During the preliminary planning for project TEKTITE, special microbiological 

 requirements were imposed on suppliers of frozen and freeze-dried foods. 

 Food safety was the prime reason for stringent requirements in this area. 

 Since the optimum storage temperature for frozen foods could not be assured, 

 it was important to start with foods which had a low microbiological content, 



TEKTITE II experience emphasized the point that in handling food, especially 

 frozen food, it is important to keep the number of transfers to a minimum and 

 to monitor the temperature during transit and storage. 



One major problem was encountered during the program. The frozen food which 

 was stored at a commercial facility thawed because of mishandling at this 

 establishment. Food, which had been thawed, was detected before it was con- 

 sumed. Constant temperature monitoring by TEKTITE personnel was implemented 

 after the thawing problem was encountered, 



VIII-94 



