If you’re in the market to buy a U.S. Military MRE’s, you have likely seen a number of places selling them online or available through auction sites. However, just because a U.S. Military MRE Case A or Case B is available for purchase doesn’t mean you should buy and consume that particular product. The safest way to make sure you are purchasing quality product is by purchasing directly from the manufacturer, such as XMRE®. There are several things you want to look for when purchasing and many other factors you want to avoid. Specifically, you should never purchase, or consume “inspected” or “re-inspected” MREs and we want to make sure you understand exactly why we take that stance.
First of all, what does purchasing an “inspected” or “re-inspected” MRE mean? In short, you can purchase MREs from online vendors that claim to be ‘inspected’ or ‘re-inspected’ and then re-sell U.S. Military MREs that are expired and have been discarded by by the U.S. Government. In many other cases, these MRE’s are auctioned for $8 to $10 dollars a case at the most. A recent example of this was when US Military MRE cases that were sent to Puerto Rico back in 2017 were being sold since the end of 2018 till now (See more here on the NBC News Report). It is important to say that the only authorized government entity that is capable of inspecting or re- inspecting a case of MRE’s for its own use is the US Military. Every single MRE that is accepted for use will be used by the Government only and it is very well written in all cases and Meals stating: “US GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, COMMERCIAL RESALE IS UNLAWFUL.” The product you are seeking when coming across ‘re-inspected’ has not been properly certified by the proper government agencies and cleared for consumption for civil use but discarded by the US Government. They found the product is no longer good for them and/or has not been inspected by a certified or authorized company that can corroborate the expiration dates or quality of the meals. (See report from the Warren CO Ohio C.E.R.T.)
MREs generally have two dates on the outside of the case. The first date is when they were packed and the second date is the inspection/test date which indicates when this has to be inspected or tested to evaluate if it is still good for use by the Government. In those cases that it is found to be still good quality, they will assign a new inspection / test date within an additional 12 months max. Buying from a second hand seller puts you at risk for fraudulent dates, outdated and unsafe food, as well as MRE’s that are no longer working the way that they should. As you don’t want to buy those that are no longer safe to be consumed, it is best to always purchase MRE’s from a certified seller.
Why should you always purchase your MREs from a verified seller? There are a couple of reasons why it’s of highest importance to keep this in mind when making your purchase. Although MREs have a long shelf life, they do eventually expire and so it is important to be confident that the MRE you are purchasing will be safe for you as long as the seller advertises it will be safe. In an effort to move product, some second hand re-sellers may try to sell MREs without the time and expense of being properly inspected. This means that you, as the consumer, may end up with a product that is not safe or will not work for you when you so desperately need them too. After a U.S. Military MRE has been discarded or auctioned and it has exchanged hands, it can no longer be certified and in turn must be destroyed if it does not get consumed within its stated lifespan.
Additionally, with a verified seller you can be certain that every part of the inspection process was followed carefully. You can be confident that a verified seller is following all the proper government guidelines to ensure the products you consume actually are safe for eating and will perform as they intend to. A non-verified “re-inspection” may not have followed the proper procedure and so you should never purchase or consume “re-inspected” MRE’s, no matter how convenient or discounted they may be. The only thing you will contribute to by purchasing expired US Military MRE’s online will be to promote the wealth of these re-sellers making 10x times profit margins at your expense.