Here are a couple of cases of MREs with the date packed.

MRE Cases

All MRE cases have some sort of date code on them that you can use to determine when they were packaged. A typical case will have both a packed date and an inspection date. The inspection date on MREs is usually three years after the packed date.

Sometimes you'll have a nice date packed such "03/09/01" which you know to mean March 9, 2001. However, some cases will use a different form such as "1068". In this case, the first number "1" stands for the year (2001) and the next three numbers indicate which day of the year (365 days in a year) it was packed. So "068" would be day 68 of the year 2001...or March 9, 2001.

How to Determine MRE Shelf Life

MREs are life savers. There is no doubt of this. The pouches of meals ready to eat (MRE) are packed with a variety of foods. They have been used by the different branches of the service. The Space Program in the United States has used them and more recently they were used by FEMA for survivors of hurricanes.

The one thing that the United States government keeps track of is the shelf life of the MREs. They are packed in three layers of plastic and aluminum which is even better than cans. The food is precooked after which it is sealed in the packaging at a very high temperature. This prevents bacteria from forming and the MREs are stable even at room temperature.

There are guidelines for how long the shelf life is at certain temperatures which has been researched by the U.S. Army’s Natick Research Laboratories. The following will give you an idea of how long MREs can be stored and remain fresh.

120 degrees - 1 month
110 degrees - 5 months
100 degrees - 22 months
90 degrees - 55 months
80 degrees - 76 months
70 degrees - 100 months
60 degrees - 130 months

So as you can see the cooler the temperature, except for freezing temperatures, the shelf life of MREs is fairly long. This is good news for those who have depended on them for life sustaining food. The MREs do not fare well in extreme temperature changes as in 30 or more degree changes. The optimum temperature should be cooler without being freezing.

The shelf life ratings were based on tasting the MREs. The concern was not whether the food would retain the nutritional value because this would last past the time the food would begin to taste bad. The MREs were determined to be good past the actual timeline for expiration.

The MREs were designed to withstand more extreme circumstances than regular food. Due to the purpose for which they were intended the food had to be resistant to even more than the regular canned foods used by consumers. Tests were developed which put the MREs through the most extreme circumstances.

The determination was also made that freezing MREs does not ruin the food either. The concern with refreezing them over and over was that it would put enough stress on the pouch to cause a breach. This would cause a problem with the food inside. However, MREs can be frozen and thawed just as you would do with normal food. This does not affect the content when it comes to taste or nutritional value.

Have you ever tried an MRE? If not, you might be surprised to know they are quite good and include popular foods such as lasagna. The notion that this type of food would taste bad or would be just something to sustain you in the case of an emergency is not quite correct. Actually, along with a main course and a dessert plus the condiments you need for your food, the MRE is actually quite tasty.