MRE food eating from 80's

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

 

[Imran Khan]

this thing is great man

 

[Nilgiri]

this thing is great man

SteveMREinfo channel is a great resource for this topic (MRE)...and also more general historic war rations too. Lot of comedy in there too (people often get concerned he will end up poisoning himself badly...some of the stuff he has summoned courage to eat), worth checking out!

 

[Imran Khan]

SteveMREinfo channel is a great resource for this topic (MRE)...and also more general historic war rations too. Lot of comedy in there too (people often get concerned he will end up poisoning himself badly...some of the stuff he has summoned courage to eat), worth checking out!

i was watching a doc and they said this MREs will last very very long times like hundreds of years

 

[Nilgiri]

i was watching a doc and they said this MREs will last very very long times like hundreds of years

Some components will yes (quality could be quite bad tho...but edible), but depends on how its packaged and stored.

Steve himself ate some really really old stuff (way before MREs)....I think some hard tack from 150 or so years ago (and it has lasted better than some more recent MREs that were stored/packaged badly).

Most of it (main meal in the MRE, crackers, spreads etc) is not really designed to last past 20 years, and the official expiry dates are normally within 10 years of production (and generally they stop giving it to soldiers on the field past 5 years after production) is what I have heard.

@jhungary might know more

Edit: found the hardtack video:

As someone in the comments said for this piece of food:

When this was baked:

France was still run by a Bonaparte
Samurai still existed
Italy didn’t exist yet
Germany didn’t exist yet
The Ottoman Empire was still a world power
Whaling was still legal
Dueling was still legal
The source of the nile was still unknown
The Suez Canal had yet to be cut

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Still don't understand how it safe to eat

 

[denel]

SteveMREinfo channel is a great resource for this topic (MRE)...and also more general historic war rations too. Lot of comedy in there too (people often get concerned he will end up poisoning himself badly...some of the stuff he has summoned courage to eat), worth checking out!

yes, mostly gimmick; MRE at max can be safe up to 5 yrs but depends on the packing; remember anything organic is not going to survive long; it will go bad in taste etc not to mention breakdown on the internal lining of the packaging

 

[Nilgiri]

Still don't understand how it safe to eat

Very low water in some foods make them preservable that long, because bacteria, mould etc needs water. Probably not that safe to eat in any significant amount though.

yes, mostly gimmick; MRE at max can be safe up to 5 yrs but depends on the packing; remember anything organic is not going to survive long; it will go bad in taste etc not to mention breakdown on the internal lining of the packaging

They dehyrdrate a lot of the foods and have the packing internally lined with metal foil etc to bump up how much it can last (both edible level and safe level)....some components fitting this criteria can last lot longer than 5 or even 10 years, as evidenced by the reviewers who have eaten MREs from the 1980s (when the packaging tech wasnt even that great as it is now). Steve MRE is probably the only one that ventures into trying K rations, C rations, WW2 rations and even those before it (of course if its clearly rotten/spoiled/moldy/doesnt pass sniff test etc...he wont eat it).....of course not recommended for people to do that...but he has survived somehow lol..he is somewhat of expert in this field.

 

[denel]

Very low water in some foods make them preservable that long, because bacteria, mould etc needs water. Probably not that safe to eat in any significant amount though.



They dehyrdrate a lot of the foods and have the packing internally lined with metal foil etc to bump up how much it can last (both edible level and safe level)....some components fitting this criteria can last lot longer than 5 or even 10 years, as evidenced by the reviewers who have eaten MREs from the 1980s (when the packaging tech wasnt even that great as it is now). Steve MRE is probably the only one that ventures into trying K rations, C rations, WW2 rations and even those before it (of course if its clearly rotten/spoiled/moldy/doesnt pass sniff test etc...he wont eat it).....of course not recommended for people to do that...but he has survived somehow lol..he is somewhat of expert in this field.

yes, but put to real conditions; i lived off MREs for many years; many are good but most tested there are not stored in open field conditions.

 

[Nilgiri]

yes, but put to real conditions; i lived off MREs for many years; many are good but most tested there are not stored in open field conditions.

Yeah storage counts for a lot big time. 100% correct if its just stored in the open in regular field conditions etc....yes everything must strictly follow the 5 year norm more or less (each military SOP will have tested and checked what the time period is). Cold weather rations I think even in field condition storage can go to 10 year norm given their entree is literally completely freeze died and vacuum sealed on top.

These (MRE fan channels) are definitely more the fan/enthusiast collected ones that were often stored in much better conditions (results of course vary) than average field deployment....hence certain components can weather much longer than officially advertised....but of course at liability only to the individual.

 

[RescueRanger]

I have several MREs some are American issued, some are NATO/ISAF mixed batches, I also have Pakistan Army issued MRE sets, the Pakistani masala chicken tastes amazing . I highly recommend people keep some MREs in the house in the event you have to evacuate during a flood or similar earthquake! Keep a minimum 72 hours food and water supply for each person of the household!

 

[Nilgiri]

I have several MREs some are American issued, some are NATO/ISAF mixed batches, I also have Pakistan Army issued MRE sets, the Pakistani masala chicken tastes amazing . I highly recommend people keep some MREs in the house in the event you have to evacuate during a flood or similar earthquake! Keep a minimum 72 hours food and water supply for each person of the household!

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You should get in touch with SteveMRE or one of the other famous MRE reviewers on youtube (gschultz, gundog etc) and send one of the Pak MRE's over for them to review (they love doing a rare international one)! I have not seen a desi MRE being reviewed ever anywhere because they are hard to source it seems.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

I watched this video again and don't understand this

 

[TheNoob]

I have several MREs some are American issued, some are NATO/ISAF mixed batches, I also have Pakistan Army issued MRE sets, the Pakistani masala chicken tastes amazing . I highly recommend people keep some MREs in the house in the event you have to evacuate during a flood or similar earthquake! Keep a minimum 72 hours food and water supply for each person of the household!

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SEND PAKISTANI ONES TO YOUTUBE REVIEWERS DUDE!

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

UAE soldier food (breakfast and lunch menu)

1 Day meal Supply with a chemical heating bag

WW2 1944 meal