When the inner ring, or dot, appears as dark as or darker than the outer ring you know the MREs have been in a high temperature environment for a long time and you should be cautious.
Keep reading to learn more. Further complicating your quest to properly determine how long you can push your MREs in storage is the fact that the individual components in any given MRE pouch will not have the same shelf lives depending on the ingredients! Talk about a pain in the butt. There has been no systematic research performed on this topic recently but previous experiments and studies have shown that items with a high dairy or fruit component often go bad, or experience substantial changes in taste or odor before other items.
However, fruit sauces and dips, cheese spreads and similar items may give up the ghost many months or even years before the rest of the items in the pouch. Even if you think your MRE is well within the safety zone of edibility, always take care and pay attention to what your eyes, nose and taste buds are telling you when eating any component!
You might be depressed to learn that one of your primary foodstuffs that you were counting on to go the distance for many years is likely only to attain a fraction of the shelf life you were expecting in storage. This is a bit of a bummer, but it is important to assess this limitation practically. You could not expect to store them in such a temperature for years on end and then dependably eat them when some SHTF event occurs, but the same could be said for many other foods that will require eventual rotation.
This is true, but remind yourself that any food item you would store in such conditions is going to have a tough, tough time remaining safe and edible. Some preppers avow that MREs do not ever effectively spoil, and so long as they are sealed and uncompromised they will remain safe to eat. The answer is…. Other times, the contents will be obviously spoiled and have undergone a noticeable change in odor, color, taste and texture. Your author here has enjoyed meals of MREs that were over 8 years old and kept in decidedly warm conditions with no ill-effects or noticeable change in quality.
Higher temperatures will shorten the shelf life, sometimes dramatically so, and colder temperatures will extend shelf life, again often considerably. Users should keep in mind that the shelf life of individual component items in the MRE might be dramatically longer or shorter than the overall expiry date. The remaining three digits tell you the day of the year.
June 19 is represented as So in the above image, you can see a code of , which indicates a manufacturing date of December 16, Use a day of the year calendar for quick reference. Some MREs may also have an inspection expiration date. Your ration pack could technically be from or Well, you can do the same with your MREs.
The inner circle darkens with time and at higher temperatures. Some of the more notable foods that deteriorate in older MREs include:. In an emergency, you may not have much choice in the matter. Since colder temperatures extend shelf-life, you may feel tempted to keep your MREs in frozen storage. In fact, the internal layers can rupture, taking away the preservation factor.
Power outages can cause freezers to restart and temperatures to fluctuate. Be mindful of how seasonal temperatures may fluctuate in your storage space. Technically speaking, it is illegal to sell military MREs to civilians for several reasons. However, you might still find a few listings on eBay and other similar websites. But even though the selling of military MREs is technically illegal, donating them is almost entirely unregulated except if the meal is expired.
With that said, you can ask a relief agency or go to an organization such as the Salvation Army to see if they have any supplies left. Both are made with the same packaging process and sterilization methods.
Military and civilian MREs lack any dubious or toxic preservatives. One more place where you could theoretically buy MREs is from a collector. Next off, it is wiser to buy an entire case of MREs, as doing so will save you the most money.
Look at the expiration date and other signs of package wear and tear. Bad signs include swellness, discoloration of the can, and foul smells coming from inside. If the situation is an emergency , having something to eat could be much more important to you than how it tastes.
Even so, you can feel free to replace your MREs whenever you think the time is right, be that right at five years or after. Your email address will not be published.
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