Actual shelf life of MRE's

[MConnelly2]

And I'm talking the old dark brown package ones. Any idea how long these are realistically good for? And what the potential issues could be using them at this point?

[krystal505]

If they were stored in a cool, dry environment for the entire duration of their storage, best estimtes is 20-25 years. If, however, they were overheated or stored improperly, chances are they are beyond edible. Are they dated? Are they the individual packages, or still sealed in the large container?

[Rancho]

MRE's are good in an emergency but if you really want good storable foods that are in meal form I personally recommend efoodsdirect.com the food is excellent quality and if I put it out as a dinner to serve for friends no one would even realize it was freeze dried..

[MConnelly2]

No, no dates on them. Best I can figure from some quick online research is they're from mid-80's (ballpark).

[Rider]

They are emergency food. If you have to, you eat them. Don't die? Win.

The official answer is five years. Common testing says 10+ years. More than likely, you can eat them at 20+ years, but they may look bad and may not retain their nutritional values.

The packs should have dates somewhere. I'd say open one up and check the date on the entree box/pack. Then open it up and try it. If it looks gross, smells disgusting, and tastes like ass, then it's just as good as the day they packed it.

[krystal505]

The new MREs are good up to 5 years, a little longer depending on storage.

The old MREs (the ones in dark brown packaging) have longer shelf lives up to 20-25, because of the types of food they used. If they have any identifying numbers on them, it can give you an estimate of the years it was produced.

If you don't know how they were stored, I personally would not trust them to eat, and I wouldn't save them for an emergency situation. If you had one of those 'oh what the hell' nights, open it up and check it out... with a toilet nearby for the next 24 or so hours

[Timber]

Depends on how hungry you are.

[KBCraig]

They're good until they're bad, and "bad" has a fuzzy definition. They'll be unpalatable before they're dangerous.

[Masterguns]

I've got some old dark brown ones in the basement from 12 years ago or so... i remember the dehydrated strawberries used to be the bomb

[MConnelly2]

Chocolate mint poundcake was pretty sweet, too, but I think that was after the dark brown ones and before the current ones.

Rider hit on the answer I probably should have come up with without having to ask the question. Emergency food=eat it and don't die, it's a net improvement in the situation. If I think of it tomorrow, I'm going to open one up and see if I can find dates on the inside.