Meals Ready-to-Eat (MREs) exist as food products that contains many different components. Because these component contain different materials, the components of MREs will expire at different rate. The retort pouch that contains beef stew isnt the same packaging as the shelf-stable bread include in an MRE package.
Therefore, the beef stew will last longer than the shelf-stable bread. While it may be assumed that all the item that come included in an MRE will expire at the same time, the items within an MRE will not all expire at the same time. For instance, the chocolate included in an MRE may expire due to rancidity before the meat in the main entree of the MRE become spoiled.
How Long MREs Last and How to Store Them
Thus, MREs are a collection of different chemistry rather than one single product. The most important factor that affects the rate at which the food within an MRE will decay is the temperature at which the MREs are store. If you store the MREs in a high-temperature environment, the high temperature will cause the food within the meal to expire at a much faster rate.
However, if you store the MREs in a low-temperature environment, such as a cool basement, the food will last for a longer period of time. The higher the temperature of the environment in which the MREs are stored, the shorter the shelf life of the MREs. If the temperature within the environment increase significant, the shelf life of the MREs may decrease by years.
To prevent the food from decaying at a rapid rate, store the MREs below room temperature. Many times, when purchasing surplus military MREs, you may not know the history of the storage of those MREs before they were purchased. The MREs may have been stored within a hot container and hot warehouse prior to being purchased.
However, civilian brand of survival food will typicaly feature a clear pack date. This date will allow you to know when the food was manufactured. Knowing when the food was manufactured will allow you to consume the food at a time that is appropriate to you.
If you are managing the MREs that you purchase, you should utilize a system known as a first-in-first-out system. This means that you should place those MREs that have been in stock the longest to the front of the shelf so that you can consume them. By utilizing this system, you will prevent finding MREs that have spoiled due to age.
Another way to store your MREs is to place them on a shelf that is elevated off of the floor. Off the floor is an important place to store your MREs because moisture and rodents may damage the cardboard boxes that contain the MREs. The cardboard boxes, if damaged, indicate that the storage environment isnt appropriate for those MREs.
The designers designed the nutritional content of the MREs for individuals who are to perform extreme physical exertion. As a result, each MRE contain high levels of sodium. The sodium is included in the MREs as a means of replacing sodium that soldiers lose in the body through the sweating of soldiers while performing extreme physical exertion.
Thus, the high levels of sodium help to prevent soldiers from getting sick due to dehydration and cramping in their muscle. Because of these high levels of sodium, the MREs will typically contain more salt than the food that is consume daily. To avoid excessive sodium intake, ensure that you vary the foods within your MREs.
Included within each MRE is a flameless ration heater that uses water to heat the meal. This helps people to heat their meal without starting a fire. However, high temperature can degrade the flameless ration heater if it exposes the MRE.
Should the flameless ration heater fail, you will still have the calories needed from the meal, but the meal will be cold. By maintaining appropriate temperature and utilizing a first-in-first-out system, you can ensure that your MREs are both safe to eat and contain the calories necessary to fuel your body.
