| People have
allot of questions concerning MREs, so we
thought we'd list out all the questions
we've received and try and answer then as
best as possible. We will constantly
update this page with new questions.
If you have a question for us, email us at
info@getmres.com and we will not only
answer it, but it may appear on our site. |
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1.>>> How long do MREs
last? |
(Brian Floyd, Reno, NV) |
| This answer depends
who you ask. As far as the
military is concerned, each MRE has a
shelf life of 3 years and each box has
an inspection date on it, which is 3
years out from its production date.
For the consumer civilian they have a
shelf life of 10-14 years. I've
eaten MREs that were 9 years old and
they weren't bad. I will admit
once you get over 5 years old the
bread, cookies, and candy items get
hard and the spreads lose some texture
and taste. The entrees maintain
most of their taste however. |
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2.>>> How
many calories
are in each MRE? |
(Chan
Lengsavoth, Las Vegas, NV) |
| Each meal provides
about 1,200 Calories (1,200 kcal or
5,000 kJ). |
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3.>>> Is it legal to purchase
MREs? |
(Mike Santiago, New
York, NY) |
I'll let Wikipedia answer
this question. From Wikipedia:
Each MRE is labeled:
U.S. Government Property
Commercial Resale is Unlawful
However, there are no specific laws that
forbid the resale of MREs,
and although the government has attempted to
discourage sellers from selling MREs
auction sites such as eBay have continued to
allow auctions of the MREs because the
Department of Defense has been unable to
show them any regulations or laws
specifically outlawing the practice.
According to a spokesman for eBay, "until a
law is passed saying you can't sell these
things, we're not going to stop them from
being sold on the site"
The recent growth of MREs listed on
eBay (2005) has resulted in a government
investigation of whether they were intended
for
Hurricane Katrina victims, and the news
media nickname "Meals Ready for eBay."[Some cases are being sold from Louisiana,
Mississippi, Florida and other Gulf states
affected by Katrina. The internal cost of a
12 pack case of MREs is $86.98 (approx.
$7.25 a meal) to the government, much higher
than what is actually paid to vendors.
As a result of earlier unauthorized sales to
civilians, the Department of Defense had
required that "U.S. Government Property,
Commercial Resale is Unlawful" be printed on
each case of MREs.
That said, MREs can be purchased by
civilians directly from the contractors who
supply MREs to the U.S. Government. These
MREs are very similar to genuine US
Government MREs, differing only in minor
details (i.e. design of case and bag or type
of spoon).
Flameless Ration Heaters are prohibited
on commercial airlines unless sealed in the
original MRE menu bag, due to the hydrogen
fumes yielded by the chemical process of
cooking with them. IN SHORT THEY
ARE LEGAL TO PURCHASE. |
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4.>>> How
many military MRE menus are there? |
(Michelle Forte, Lincoln, Nebraska) |
| Each year 24 menus are
produced for the military and separated into
2 cases. Case "A" has menus 1-12 and
case "B" has menus 13-24.
The menus do change year to year, but
normally its only a few changes menu entrees
and then some upgrades to other menus.
The menus cover a variety of traditional
Afircan-American, Mexican, Italian, and
American meals. |
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5.>>> Are there any
MREs that are made for Vegetarians? |
(Jason Lopez, Houston, TX) |
| Yes. Over
the past several years the makers of MRES
have included more and more vegetarian
meals. Back in the mid-90's you were
lucky to get 2 vegetarian meals, but with
the growing number of vegetarians the number
of vegetarian meals per menu set is 5 from
2006-2008. They also include a fish
meal called "Tuna In A Pouch". That
was added in 2007 and is considered by many
a vegetarian meal. So far the preview
of the 2009 menus only has 4 vegetarian
meals and the Tuna In A Pouch meal.
That is one less then the last three year. |
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6.>>>
Is it illegal to mail the MRE heaters? |
(Mike Becket, Abilene, TX) |
The chemicals in the heaters are considered
explosive and dangerous. The sale and
transportation of hazardous materials,
including explosive and radioactive
materials, toxic substances, and so forth,
is heavily regulated by federal and state
law. For this reason, listings for these
items on eBay are severely restricted.
Now that being said, people transport and
mail through the USPS complete sets of MREs
and MRE meals all the time. It is
required by the USPS that you declare the
heaters, but that is not done. I would
contact the shipping agency you wish to use
and ask them,
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