So I've been on a kick lately to re-arrange some of my preps.  I have a box that has mostly leftovers from MRE's - accessory packs, crackers, jelly, and other odds and ends that never got eaten.  While looking through it Sunday night I realized I have 6 of the 2400 calorie packs of mainstay Survival Rations in there.  The manufacture date is 10/1999 and the expiration date is 10/2004.  Sometime in the past, probably in 2003, I also took these rations and vacuum sealed them in food saver bags.

So, being that they are 15 years expired I figured I would open one up and see how bad it is.  I cut open the bag and inspected it.  It appeared just as I remembered them. Texture seemed normal, smelled mostly normal but there may have been a very slight rancid smell. I took a bite, tasted normal so I ate one square.  The only thing that I noticed different from the other times I have eaten them is this time my mouth felt like it was coated with a film a few minutes after eating it.  No stomach aches, and no subsequent problems after eating it.

So for those who have these socked away, don't be too quick to eat them or otherwise replace them right at the expiration date.  I suspect that as long as they are kept in a temperature stable environment they will last much longer than the 5 year shelf life.

OP has not logged back in for two days ????

Damn that’s cool thanks for the info.

I'm fine, no ill effects.

lets get this out on a tray-nice