“Meals Ready to Eat or MRE packages are food packets that have the ability to last for a long time without being spoilt. There are military MREs, and there are civilian MREs.
Most adventure enthusiasts like to trust military MREs for their emergency food needs. Research suggests that a military MRE package can survive for nearly 60 months without being harmed if stored at a temperature of 60 degrees.
That is all well and good. However, the problem is that military MREs are not legal to buy for civilians. So, when you buy military MREs from some shady seller, you have no way of knowing what you are getting inside the package.
It is far better to buy civilian MREs than buying military MREs if you are not in the military. That is because when you buy civilian MREs:
1. You know the origin of your food
Many cases have emerged over the years where some eBay seller sold an MRE package that sat in a war zone for months, or years! That is not good because according to the NATIC Research Lab of the US Army, an MRE package can get spoilt in just two years if exposed to a temperature above 100 degrees during the period! When you buy something like MRE online, you have no way of knowing where the item you bought came from.
2. You do not become sick
In case you end up getting an MRE package that had to sit in a war zone for a long time, you may harm yourself by consuming the package more than help yourself. That is because chemicals used in war zones may actually affect food quality in a negative way. You may even face serious diseases after consuming such food.
3. You get better quality supplies
Military gears and other supplies are not the best in the world. Well, at least, not usually. The government does not treat the military with a very high regard. As a result, most military supplies do not adhere to strict quality standards. When you buy a civilian MRE package, the chance of getting quality food is far more than when you purchase a military MRE package.
4. You buy original items
Emergency food packages found on sites like eBay do not tend to be original. Mostly, eBay sellers sell counterfeit MRE supplies manufactured in China. Those are not real MREs in any way. When you buy a civilian MRE package from a reputed seller, you can at least be sure that the product is original.
So, the next time you feel tempted to spend money on a so-called military MRE, stop and buy a civilian MRE, instead.”