Civilian vs Military MRE’s
Filed under
Food & Water
MRE stands for Meal, Ready-to-Eat. While a lot of preppers like to get their hands on MRE’s from the U.S. military, there are a couple of reasons that you may be better off buying civilian MRE’s
WHY Civilian MRE’s are a better option:
- The commercial sale of Civilian MRE’s is not restricted like the military MREs.
- You can buy from legitimate dealers, not eBay sellers who may be selling you old MRE’s
- Better storage – We have heard of some military MRE’s that have been in a war zone for months or years before making there way onto Ebay. Who wants to eat something that has been laying around in the desert for the last year?
What about Military MRE’s how long do they last?
As long as your MRE’s are not damaged in anyway (swelling, punctured, ripped, etc…) then they should last for a long time.
The Army’s Natick Research Laboratories tests indicate that MRE’s from the early 80′s and 90′s stored below 60 degrees have a shelf life of about 130 months. The newer MRE’s now have a significantly shorter shelf life and will last for about 60 months at 60 degrees. Any fluctuation in storage temperature can and will effect the shelf life of your MRE’s. For instance the same MRE stored at 100 degrees has a shelf life of about 6 months.
List of the Top Civilain MRE’s
- Sure-Pak 12 Military Ready To Eat Complete Meals
These are one of the Top MRE’s on the market and probably the closest to actual military MRE’s
- Mountain House #10 Can Freeze-Dried Food
- Mountain House 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kit
- 2400 Calorie ER Bar – Emergency Food Ration (4 Pack)
- Mainstay Emergency Food Rations – Case of 10 Packs
Wow, with this post you have lost all your credibility. The thing about an MRE is that after a year or 2 in a war zone they are still good. That is why people seek them out.
Thanks for the comment, but I don’t trust anything that has been in a war zone for any length of time. And I have a couple reasons for this…..
1. Even the best MRE’s are going to be effected by the harsh heat in the desert. The U.S. Army’s NATIC Research Laboratories have done numerous tests on the shelf life of MRE’s. They found that when exposed to heat over 100 degrees they lasted less than two years while MRE’s stored at around 70 degrees were good for at least 100 months.
These are the military findings NOT MINE! So I hope this helps you a little with my credibility. The fact is the heat in a desert warzone will effect the shelf life of your MRE’s
2. A lot of crazy stuff happens in war zones including chemicals that can get on the packaging, I don’t know about you but after seeing all the people come back from Iraq with mysterious illnesses, I tend to think that eating something that has been sitting over there may not be so safe.
3. Quality – The quality of everything the military gets is ussually crap, that’s why so many service men and women end up being forced to buy there own gear to bring with them (knifes, food, Bullet proof vests, etc….) The sad truth is the government treats the military like crap. I just don’t trust them enough to believe that the MRE’s are any better than the civilian version. The civilian MRE companies have to worry abut lawsuits from an unsafe product the military doesn’t.
4. Counterfeit MRE’s – There is no way to know that what your buying online is in fact even a military MRE’s. Personally I wouldn’t trust someone on EBAY or some thrown together website with my food supplies!
I agree with Robert. that other guy is an a#@hole
Thank you for the clarification.
not all MREs been the dirt (OIF&OEF) MRE are given out during training ops. ops that go down all over the us
Don’t take cross contamination so lightly.
I’m gluten intolerant. It’s an auto-immune disease. My body will attack anything with wheat, rye or barley products in it, including the lining of my gut and skin should I eat or apply them to my skin, and then I can’t absorb vitamins and minerals properly. For years I had no overt symptoms other than chronic fatigue, and seizures until last year when I developed edema, pellagra and a goiter all at the same time.
Guess what? Just about every MRE or packaged emergency food item will basically kill me – sometimes just from the labels and packaging where starch was used to size the paper. Starch, like that used on military uniforms, might be transfered from the packaging directly to the food or
to my hands and then to the food.
And NO !!!! I didn’t believe it either but the Doc has cut me off cold turkey. Can’t use any paper products because they might have been contaminated with starch at the plant. The whole idea is so wild, I was going to get a T-shirt that says: “TP is killing me!” or maybe “Guns don’t kill people. Books kill people!” but the Doc said I’d have to get my SO to wash it first.
I too am gluten sensitive. I am looking for MRE’s that are gluten sensitive for the public for emergency preparedness events, but also people who are gluten sensitive also have other food sensitiivies such as milk, soy, nuts etc. does anyone know of a company or does the Gov’t have sensitive free foods for our great warriors in the field? Alpha/Omega Storehouse. please e-mail me, as I am also getting this together for churches. We must be ready. Spiritually for the Lord and physically so that we can help others in need. God Bless, thank you for any info. Marie
If you want gluten sensitive food for long term food storage or for hunting, camping, and hiking then look at the freeze-dried food IF YOU CAN GET IT, since some of those packets will be for gluten sensitive people. You need to ask the suppliers of these kinds of survival food storage items about which ones are for gluten sensitive people and which ones are not. God bless, Andrew
Back in the 80s I was eatting
C & K rations from vietnam. They still good. Sat in a wearhouse for years. SO WHATS SO BAD WITH THOSE MRES ? NOT A THING.
If you’ve been to the sandbox either OIF or OIF, you know that 95% of the time you’re eating in a DEFAC (dining facility), even when you’re at a FOB (forward operating base) there’s usually hot chow. MREs are used on convoys or as a last resort. I don’t think you’ll see many MREs lying around in the desert. I’m just saying.
The core don’t play with this…..we feast on the local food..S@D..1st Division,
I disagree. MRE’s civilian or military are the same, but the military package is better if but for one reason: It comes with the goddamn heater. and it’s sealed in the package so you can’t lose it. And as far as getting them second hand, I know a guy who knows a guy who get’s them from a guy in the army.
I have about 30 MRE’s that I saved up from the late 80′s & 90′s when I was in the Army. They have been stored in a cool closet around 60 degrees. Whats you opinion? Are they still good to eat?
The Army’s Natick Research Laboratories tests indicate that MRE’s from the early 80′s and 90′s stored below 60 degrees have a shelf life of about 130 months. (THESE NUMBERS ARE NOT FOR THE NEWER MRE’s) Also keep in mind that these number assume that they have always been stored at those temperatures. Any fluctuation in temperature can and will effect the shelf life of your MRE’s
There is no research beyond that timeline but keep in mind that those tests only looked at the quality of taste and no research on the nutritional value was ever done from that time period. The MRE’s from that time period had a lot of freeze dried foods which account for a longer shelf life. As long as the are not swelling, opened, punctured or damaged in anyway, during an emergency situation I would probably still eat the ones from the 90′s and maybe even the ones from the 80′s. With that being said, it’s probably time to think about replacing them. I’m not sure that they’re worth the risk of getting sick.
There needs to be several things cleared up in this blog, number one, temp and humidity etc does factor into the shelf life of mres, number two, you DO NOT know where they come from when buying them off line, nor how they have been stored, number three, if they have been in the desert or high temps then the shelf life is reduced, there are charts on the internet to help you with this discussion, number four ive been there done that and I deal in military surplus as well as have eaten about every brand and menu out there in training and hunting purposes so use common sense, do you think food can sit in a sea container in high temps and not be affected? Ive ate older mres myself and they were still good, but ive also ate current production mres and they were spoiled and had to be thrown out, number five, as far as the chemical exposure, Im a haz mat tech and if they have been exposed to any chemical agents then you still could be exposed but its not likely because of all the handling etc, so it would be an extremely low exposure if any
robert, yes temperature does affect the life of an mre, yet for what it is worth, they theoretically never go bad, over the summer i had a chicken breast mre from 1991, it was still good, i didnt get botulism or anything like that, even tho the chicken breast is really beaks and feet lol, this was a pretty good post, yet if you do want safe military mres you should go to a military surplus store
Thanks Jon,
One thing for everyone to remember is that these numbers are really just rough guidelines. Even the Army Research only looked at taste when determining the shelf life. Any data on nutritional value or spoilage was never publicly released.