Mountain House meals in TV show

Lights, camera, action.

Actually, the video production work is done and it's time to see the finished product.

On Labor Day, television viewers across the nation will learn about Oregon Freeze Dry's Mountain House line of freeze-dried foods. It will be featured on "Unwrapped," a show on the Food Channel.

Hosted by Marc Summers, the show's theme will be "Roughing It." It will air at 9 p.m. on Sept. 3; noon on Sept. 4; 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 and 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 15.

A production crew from High Noon Entertainment visited Albany on Jan. 23 and shot about four hours of video that was edited into a four-minute segment for the show. High Noon creates more than 400 hours of network programming annually according to Becky Boyer, Oregon Freeze Dry Inc.'s assistant to the president.

Boyer said producer Katrina Sarson, cameraman Bill Ward and his son and assistant, William Ward, interviewed company president Herbert Aschkenasy and Jim Merryman, senior vice president of sales and business development. They later shot video showing the production of Mountain House beef stew from beginning to end, which includes cooking, freezing, drying and packaging.

They wrapped up the day by showing how to properly prepare the beef stew as well as a freeze-dried dessert, raspberry crumble.

Oregon Freeze Dry introduced Mountain House foods in 1968 after a customer requested freeze-dried military meals packaged for outdoor enthusiasts. Since 2002, the American Tasting Institute has named Mountain House the Gold Medal winner in the freeze-dried food category.

The Mountain House line includes breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts and snacks. Foods sold in pouches have a 7-year shelf life under proper conditions, and the company has tested products that were sealed in cans and were good for more than 25 years.

Oregon Freeze Dry was incorporated in 1963 and has more than 32,000 square feet of freeze-drying space in Albany. The company has another 11,000 square feet of freeze-drying space in a joint venture with companies in the United Kingdom and Denmark.

Oregon Freeze Dry employs more than 300 people in Albany and is the world's largest custom processor of freeze-dried products.