I thought they had dates on them somewhere.
Once they are removed from the case which has the date, its almost impossible to tell. That's why buying individual MRE's are so sketchy. A proper case will have a round reddish color sticker on it that will show if it's been cared for or exposed to too much heat. If someone tries to sell you a case that's been opened, is missing the condition indicator sticker or has a sticker showing it's been mishandled then don't buy it!
Stored correctly you can expect 12 years officially (iirc) but realistically I've heard of people eating twenty year old MRE's with no sickness although they did say the flavor and texture was a little rough on some items.
Stored correctly you can expect 12 years officially (iirc) but realistically I've heard of people eating twenty year old MRE's with no sickness although they did say the flavor and texture was a little rough on some items.
According to one of my military sources, they go through and inspect the MRE boxes to see if any meals are swollen or show obvious signs of deterioration, if not, they are recertified for another cycle. I know that when in RVN '68-69, we routinely ate C rats dated from the Korean war. Cigarettes were somewhat dry and stale, but none of us died from eating them. Now you understand why we all carried bottles of hot sauce with us..
You're not supposed to eat cigarettes
fiber supplement?
Not exactly good chew...
Lurker, this is good info.. I much prefer to use this as a best by chart than the fact that the sealed packs haven't exploded..
On the ones I've used each package has a four digit code that is the packing date. It would look like this for example 2335. The first number is the last number of the year of packing. In the example 2=2012 or it could be 2002. The last three numbers are the day of the year it was packed. In the example I gave the packing date would be the 335th day of 2012 (or 2002 or even 1992). This is why the inspection date on the case is important if the inspection date is say 2015 then you know the 2 in the example is 2012. Clear as mud 
If you are going to buy individual MRE be sure to buy from a reputable seller. As far as how long they will last 
I've eaten them that were several years old that had been stored in the back of a pickup with no ill effects.
If you are going to buy individual MRE be sure to buy from a reputable seller. As far as how long they will last I've eaten them that were several years old that had been stored in the back of a pickup with no ill effects.
