Ration

The Ration is an item that appears in every game in the Metal Gear series. In most games, it restores a large amount of health when eaten. If the ration is selected as the equipped item, the player will automatically eat a ration if his health is depleted, although instant-kill scenarios (e.g. stepped on by Metal Gear REX) will still be fatal. In every game from Metal Gear to Metal Gear Solid 2, the ration has a round shape (in Metal Gear Solid]], the ration is shown to be square shaped in the game, however, opening the item window shows the ration to be round in shape). In Metal Gear Solid 4, the ration appears to be square.

Metal Gear 2 is the only game that includes specific types of ration containers, as a certain type is needed to complete a puzzle.

In Metal Gear Solid 3, the ration that appears is a Russian ration that functions as a moderately filling food item. The Calorie Mate is a similar but much more filling foodstuff as Naked Snake disliked the taste of the Russian rations. Neither the ration nor the Calorie Mate count towards the various naturally-occurring food and medicinal items that Snake needs to collect in order to unlock the EZ Gun. In Metal Gear Solid 3, the Life Medicine has the healing function that the ration had in previous games.

They serve a similar role in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, where they serve only as a way to replenish the character's stamina. Also, it includes two kinds of rations: Large and Small. Its function to heal other characters is instead done by Medical Kits.

Rations also reappear in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and is now used to replenish the character's health. Recovering the stamina (referred to as Psyche) is used for Mates. The rations in this game resembled rectangles with rounded corners. During certain Extra Ops missions, the player can also cook the rations and can procure Rare, Well done, or burnt rations depending on how long the player cooks them.

Zanzibar Rations
As stated above, Metal Gear 2 is the only game that includes specific types of ration containers. Below are the different types of Zanzibar Rations:


 * B1 Unit Ration: contains Beef, Pork, Ham and Eggs paste, tuna fish, chocolate, and crackers. Can be used to neutralize acid puddles making them safe to walk through.


 * B2 Unit Ration: contains Tomato-boiled peas and meatball mix, potato-boiled peas and German sausage mix, potato-boiled beef and Sauce-boiled diced beef.


 * B3 Unit Ration: contains Sauce-boiled sliced hams, chicken, and turkey, spaghetti with beef, turkey blocks, cheese and coffee.

Sound Rations
On February 9, 2009, Konami released six collectable "Sound Rations" available from dispensing machines around Japan. Styled to match the appearance of the in-game ration, each different Sound Ration emitting a different sound with the press of a button.

Trivia

 * When Naked Snake or one of the Militaires Sans Frontieres members end up roasting up a rare ration, Kazuhira Miller contacted them and jokingly said "don't quit your day job."
 * Between the events of Third Sun and Twin Suns, Roy Campbell and Rosemary attended a United Nations Swap Meet that dealt with rations. According to the judges, or at least Campbell, French rations were the best, with Italian rations and Japanese rations coming in runner up. However, all the judges agreed that the worst rations were American rations, to which Campbell told Snake later on, heavily hinting at Rosemary's horrible cuisine.
 * On the topic of French rations, Cecile explained that the reason why the French rations were the best were because they contained sweets.

In-game description
"Rations Replenishes LIFE gauge."

- Rations description from Metal Gear

"Restores a small amount of Stamina."

- Ration(S) description from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

"Restores a large amount of Stamina."

- Ration(L) description from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

"Undercooked Meal, Ready-to-Eat. An already unappetizing creation made worse by being undercooked. Recovers only a small amount of LIFE."

- Rare Ration item description from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

"Well-done Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Makes a revoting ration surprisingly delicious. Recovers more LIFE than normal, and also recovers PSYCHE."

- Well-done Ration item description from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

"Burnt Meal, Ready-to-Eat. The only thing worse than a ration is a burnt ration. Eating it won't recover much LIFE."

- Burnt Ration item description from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker