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 About
MREs
Emergency Meals from Outer Space
The Big Breakthrough was the Pouch!
MRE Shelf Life
The Full Moisture Pouch is the Best Meal Time
Solution for...
What comes in an MRE Full Meal Ration?
MRE True Adventures
Heating the MRE
How to Read and Understand Production Dates
The Modern MRE and the Evolution of Emergency Food
Emergency
Meals from Outer Space!
MREs
were born on Earth, but grew up on Apollo flights to the moon. Then they served
in Skylab floating workshops and on every US space Shuttle
flight from Enterprise to Challenger.
In
the 1970's, retort pouches (the popular name for
thermostabilized, laminated food pouches named after the retort
steam cooker) were put to their first real test by the U.S.
Space Program.
NASA was looking for delicious, easy to prepare, "normal" food that wouldn't increase human stress
the way that freeze dried and "toothpaste tube food" sometimes did.
More
than any other technology, retort pouches have satisfied the
program's needs.
And so, over 30 years ago, retort pouches
found a home at NASA, where all their unusual characteristics
were much appreciated. They have been successfully feeding
astronauts on the moon and in flight ever since.
From the Moon to a Split Personality of Applications!
Feeding Soldiers!
Humanitarian Relief!
Survival Efforts and Preparation!
In
the 1980's, the US military research labs took the lead in
the use and development of retort pouches.
The new pouches enabled the Defense
Department to upgrade its entire field ration program to retort
pouches from the earlier, less workable technologies of canning
and freeze drying.
 Over
the past 30 years, the same research labs which invented
them
have
continually upgraded the taste and nutritional profile
of the pouched meals.
Also
over the past 30 years, our military has come to depend on
the MRE Full Meal kits for most of their operations.
They fed Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the 1990's, and have become the mainstay of all U.S. offensive and defensive operations up to this very day. They continue to feed our troops, and those of allies, wherever they are deployed.
At the same time, over the last 10-15 years, national Television and Print Media have been full of stories about these same MRE Full Meals being used for HUMANITARIAN RELIEF...
Relief, Relief, Relief...
Hurricane Relief, Flood Relief, Earthquake Relief, Volcano Relief, Hunger Relief, Refugee Relief, Forest Fire Relief, Y2K Fever Relief, and Preparation for Future Relief Efforts...
Hundreds
of millions of MRE Full Meals have been produced and eaten.
They have gone to every theatre of war and every theatre of relief of human misery - sort of a split personality.
Long Life Food Depot, LLC, followed the footsteps of its predecessor, Resourceful Foods Co., by opening and continually
upgrading a clearing house for MRE pouches, MRE Full Meals, and other MRE Kits. This clearing house is what we call our
"MRE Smorgasbord," which features MRE components from a dozen manufacturers involved in the MRE Ration Program, in addition to some quality MRE-style, full-moisture food pouches.
This MRE Smorgasbord brings direct access to the same MRE's used for Military Feeding and Humanitarian Relief that you hear so much about, to EVERYONE!!!
Our Customers include Fire Fighters, Smoke Jumpers, Campers, Backpackers, Hunters, Coast Guard units, Geological Expeditions, Everest Climbers, Cities, States, Counties, Adventurers, Explorers, Scouts, Survivalists, Self Reliance Practitioners, Relief Agencies, FEMA, Red Cross, Church Relief Groups, and many more.
The
Big Breakthrough was the Pouch!
The MRE pouch was inspired by the concept of the "metal can", but it took a departure. The MRE package, the retort pouch, is a thin container built with multiple layers to allow food to be sealed inside before it is cooked evenly from the outside, and never exposed to the air again until opened. Thus, the food is actually cooked AND sterilized in the pouch and then blocked from future contamination. The result is almost unbelievable shelf life and food which retains its natural moisture and juice (i.e. is not freeze dried or dehydrated!)
The MRE pouch was orginally made of a tri-laminate material including Polyester Film (Outer Layer), Aluminum Foil (Middle Layer), and Polypropylene (Inner Layer). In recent years, the pouch design has been modified to include Nylon as a fourth layer. The addition of Nylon improves the overall durability of the pouch without adding a siginificant amount of weight.
Here is the breakdown
of the breakthrough pouch:
 OUTER
LAYER: A tough polyester film which provides protection
for the middle layers.
OUTER MIDDLE
LAYER: The newer Nylon layer makes the pouch more durable. Adding strength to the pouch improves the pouch's performance in extreme temperatures and condition, such as: the cooking/sterilization process, cold-weather storage, and rough handling.
INNER MIDDLE LAYER: The key to the pouch’s shelf stability, aluminum foil, the most effective and economical barrier to moisture, light and oxygen. The result: No refrigeration or freezing will ever be required.
INNER
LAYER: Next to the food is a very special polypropylene
film. It is compatible with the widest variety of foods
so that no “canned” or other unwanted taste
is added to the food. It also ensures an exceptionally strong
heat seal.
MRE
Shelf Life
A main concern in the development and
testing of rations for our armed forces has always been SHELF
LIFE. An amazing amount of research has been done
in the development of the retort pouch and the MRE to determine
the exact length of time and the exact conditions under which
it is safe to store the entrees and the side dishes.
The main thing we have to work with is the shelf life chart
(shown below) compiled by the Army's Natick Research labs.
This gives a very good overview and summary of all the findings
gathered from all the testing of MRE products. However, it
leaves many questions unanswered. Here are additional facts
and observations we have gathered about MRE shelf life:
1)
The shelf life ratings shown in the chart below were determined
by taste panels, panels of "average" people, mostly
office personnel at the Natick labs. Their opinions were
combined to determine when a particular component or, in
this case, the entire MRE ration, was no longer acceptable.
2)
The shelf life determinations were made solely on the basis
of taste, as it was discovered that acceptable
nutritional content and basic product safety would extend
way beyond the point where taste degradation would occur.
This means that MREs would be safe and give a high
degree of food value long after the official expiration
of the products as determined by taste.
3)
MRE pouches have been tested and redesigned where necessary
according to standards much more strict than for commercial
food. They must be able to stand up to abuse tests such
as obstacle course traversals in field clothing pockets,
storage outdoors anywhere in the world, shipping under extremely
rough circumstances, 100% survival of parachute drops, 75%
survival of free-fall air drops, severe repetitive vibration
(1 hour at 1 G vibration), 7,920 individual pouch drops
from 20 inches, and individual pouches being subjected to
a static load of 200 lbs for 3 minutes.
4)
Freezing an MRE retort pouch does not destroy the food inside,
but repeated freezing increases the chances that the stretching
and stressing of the pouch will cause a break in a layer
of the laminated pouch. These pouches are made to withstand
1,000 flexes, but repetitive freezing does increase the
failure rate by a small fraction of a percent.
MRE Storage Life Chart
The
Full Moisture Pouch is the Best Meal Time Solution for...
Ready to Eat individual serving pouches are
the correct mealtime solution for Emergency Preparedness,
Camping, Hunting and all outdoor activities! Our full moisture
“flexible can” pouches won’t slow you down!
In
1980, the U.S. Military followed the lead of the U.S. Space
program in recognizing the workability of a brand new technology.
They used it to overhaul their food rations with the main
result of delicious, long-lasting Meat & Non-Meat dinners
complete with moisture, gravy and sauce.
The big breakthrough was the POUCH. Its three special layers (now four) allow the food to be sealed and then cooked
inside and never exposed to the air again until opened.
The
resulting taste and texture beats the heck out of the LPR’s
(Long Range Patrol Rations - dehydrated and freeze dried rations
used during the Viet Nam era) and the C-rations (the famous
canned rations from World War II).
The
big difference is the TASTE. But look at what else the MRE
pouches give:
- Shelf
Life of 3-10 years!*
- NOT
FREEZE DRIED! Moisture, gravy and sauce are retained in
natural form.
- Ready
to eat. Hot in 5 minutes with boiling water! (contaminated
and/or dirty water has worked when it never touched the
food).
-
The food can be eaten cold in an emergency (contents were
fully cooked
in the sealed pouch!).
- Specially
developed for maximum nutrition.
Try some of these MRE pouches to see if they aren’t the best tasting, most convenient, long-lasting outdoor, adventure, emergency and disaster relief foods available.
* See
storage life chart
What comes in an MRE Full Meal Ration?
Our MRE Smorgasbord offers two excellent options for MRE Full Meals. In addition to our own Long Life Food Depot brand of Full Meals, we are proud to be the authorized dealer of Wornick Eversafe Full Meal Kits. See below for details on both options.
Long Life Food Depot Brand MRE Full Meals
Eversafe Brand MRE Full Meal Kits
APACK Brand Ready Meal MRE Full Meals
MRE
True Adventures
Many
of our customers have written or called us with their experiences
with MREs in life or death situations. Some of these emergencies
were Nature-made and some were man-made.
One of our customers goes to Alaska every year and lives in
a cave with MREs, just for the purpose of seeing if he can
survive a week! One customer races down rushing rivers with MREs. Another customer, a 72 year old backpacker, takes MREs
high into the Colorado mountains.
We believe that these man-made emergency situations help prepare our customers for the Nature-made ones! When unexpected emergencies and disasters arise, these customers know that MREs are the right food for the job.
We have all witnessed over and over from Hurricanes
Andrew to Katrina and from Earthquakes to Tsunamis, MREs
have done an excellent job in saving thousands of lives around
the United States and around the world! Whether your Emergency is a hurricane, tornado, flood or earthquake,
or a self-created one like the hunt, the fishing trip or the
sporting expedition, MREs will solve your emergency food needs
like nothing else.
Convenient and long-lasting, MREs are always ready to go!
How to Read and Understand Production Dates
The production date is visible on all our entrees and on most side dishes, desserts, and other components. The production date is a four digit number (date code) printed on each item.
Example: "5156." In this example, the "5" represents the year 2005 (a "4" would represent 2004, etc.), the "156" represents the 156th day of the year. See the top of the individual box or look on pouch for the Date Code.
Eversafe Products use a five digit number. Example: "13064." In this example, the first two digits, "13", represent the year 2013. The last three digits, "064" represent the 64th day of the year.
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been generated by Long Life Food Depot is the property of
Long Life Food Depot. Copyright © 1996-2009. All content on
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