Posted: 11/28/2011 7:48:52 PM EDT
| Just got done reading the recent posts about MRE,s. One of my sons teachers from a few years ago gave him a case. Just did some checking and they were packed on Sept. 30 2002. They have been stored in the house and never been above 75-80 degrees. Any input would be appreciated. |
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Here is one of many copies of the "official" MRE life span chart.
So technically they're bumping up against their official life span. In reality, they remain edible for far beyond this (use common sense, don't eat something that's bloated or smells rotten, obviously.) About once a month one of the folks here digs up an ancient MRE and does a report on how it tastes, and none of us have died yet. I've had MREs at almost the 20 year mark that were stored indoors, and they tasted about as good as they did new. (Which in many cases is not saying much...) |
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They won't taste any better now. Try to have a cold the week you eat them - the gas is terrible. Don't eat them exclusively for more than 21 days w/out dietary supplements. Exercise a lot - we did pushups & jumping jacks in OCS. Drink LOTS of water.
Gig 'em, backbencher |
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I am currently going through a few cases that I have had stored since 2003. They are the civi packed MRE which were bought fresh and stored well. The saltines are a bit stale so I just crumble them up in the entree or toss them. Other than that, they seem to taste just the same as they did in 2003.
...Rob... http://www.OutfittersSurplus-Gifts.com |
Best way to know how good they are is open them up and try them. I have a case from 2003, I just cracked open to sample. Normally the apple sauce or similar items will go off in taste first. The case I opened, was just fine. Back into storage it goes, with a note to use within 2 more years
They won't go "bad" as in make you sick, they just may not look good, or taste fresh the older they are. |
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Quoted:
I have a case from 2003, I just cracked open to sample. Normally the apple sauce or similar items will go off in taste first. The case I opened, was just fine. Back into storage it goes, with a note to use within 2 more years
If those were still good, you should go ahead and use them. I've got more cases to sort through. 
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Quoted:
Here is one of many copies of the "official" MRE life span chart. So technically they're bumping up against their official life span. In reality, they remain edible for far beyond this (use common sense, don't eat something that's bloated or smells rotten, obviously.) About once a month one of the folks here digs up an ancient MRE and does a report on how it tastes, and none of us have died yet. I've had MREs at almost the 20 year mark that were stored indoors, and they tasted about as good as they did new. (Which in many cases is not saying much...) That is good to know. I have some purchased in 1999, some around 2006. (Now if I could just remember which ones are which...) 
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mreinfo.com is the best resource for MRE's.
They even have an iPhone app (when you need to know about MRE's and are out and about.
The wife, grandkids and I have eaten 10y/o MRE's stored similar to yours w/o problems. |
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Do let the ACP's fool you- the "Analytical Chart Posse" folks.
We made videos for youtube showing old storage food and how it fared in HIGH HEAT HIGH HUMIDITY storage over 10-17 years. MRE's were shown in there also. It's on Protus channel and you can link to it via www.bucketpacking.com Took the boy out Friday to work on some basic camp skills. We ate a bunch of MRE oatmeal bars from 1994. At the Ocala Florida campout we hold once a year just a few weekends back I gave out a pile of 1994 MRE Fruit cocktail and ate a couple there. Recently opened up some old skewl metal tray packs from around 2000 of Spaghetti and meat balls. Started giving the dogs some Humanitarian Pouched Meals (HPM's) of Pork patties from 93- the HPM's were all as nasty as the day they were packed, I stopped eating pork where possible years ago. The HPM's were nasty when I bought them, but cases of 72 pouches for $12. a case back then was reason enough to buy them. I've given out more than a few cases to folks with little money to prep. ALL of this stuff was stored in high heat and high humidity that if you believed the ACP's it would have all been unedible 10-15 years ago. Use the "charts" as a GUIDELINE ONLY, real world experience shows they are incorrect as far as longevity goes. I continue to save a little here and there from really old stocks for long term experimentation, their will be a 25 and 30 year test of some of these products. |