Abstract: An improvement to existing meals-ready-to-eat (MRE) rotational retort processes reduces the time that the food is exposed to heat. This is achieved by adding a pulsed electric field process (PEF) to the MRE process to aid in inactivating microorganisms in the food. The food may then be exposed to heat only long enough to obtain the desired sensory characteristics. Because the PEF inactivates the microorganisms in the food, the food does not have to be exposed to high temperatures for a prolonged time. As a result, the food is sterilized without losing the desired sensory characteristics or nutritional value. Moreover, the process may easily be incorporated into existing MRE production processes.