Everytime I see the term "retort pouch" (which admittedly isn't that often anymore), I can't help but think of "retort" in the response/tsukkomi sense.
Imagine a bag full of Kenichi Kazama's retorts to the insanity around him.
@panzerkaizer but those aren't frozen curry. They are well sealed and you keep them at room temperature. You just heat it up when you want to eat it so they are nice and hot.
You can thank the U.S. Army's Natick labs, for the invention of retort pouch technology.
Developed as a way to create a lighter method of conserving food, as an alternative to the traditional steel or aluminum can, the "flexible can" pouch was developed so as to not only lighten the load a soldier needed to carry their rations into combat, but to also prevent the enemy from using the waste produced from the previous MCI rations (c-rats) against the soldier, i.e. the cans (perfect for grenade booby traps)
The long shelf life was an added bonus, stemming from the high pressure pasteurization process.