I really loved the BBQ pork ribs. They also gave you soft bread in that pack, and I think it also came with mint pound cake.

The article neglected to mention the tabasco being used in your eyes to keep you awake while on guard duty.

I agree, the cheese spread (especially jalapeno) was the best. I would usually not eat the meat-like product in MREs.

> ...tabasco being used in your eyes to keep you awake while on guard duty

Commander: Son, why didn't you see that group of enemy soldiers neak up on and slit the throats of half our men?!

Soldier: Well, I don't know, but I sure didn't fall asleep, sir!

Oh goodness, the jalapeno cheese spread was ever only in like 1 of the meals per box. People used to trade illicit bottles of liquor for one of those.

I got one of the worst cases of...erm..."intestinal movement"...from the ribs (fashioned into a sandwich with the bread of course). I could never bring myself to eat that particular meal again. I think they've replaced the bread in the newer (2009/2010) meals with a tortilla.

I still can't figure out how they made the pasta MREs so good. Old pasta noodles get soggy fast.

Same with the Canadian Swiss Steak IMP shown -- it's one of the least popular meals in the rotation, though it doesn't hold a candle to the universally reviled Ham Omelet (affectionately nicknamed the "Human Lung" and now thankfully long gone). The Macaroni & Cheese, however, is better than any such that ever came off a store shelf and makes a fantastic hearty breakfast (if you can imagine).

We were always told that you were supposed to be supplemented with fresh fruit & veg every so often to deal with the lack of fiber, but you can guess how often that happened in the field.

How are those ingredients organized inside the main plastic bag?

This has a good layout.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat

And the changing menus http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/mre-menus.html

The whole thing comes in thick plastic bag. When you cut it open you get several plastic bags and small cardboard boxes. The flameless heater is just another empty looking plastic bag (lower left in the picture). Inside the boxes are the main parts of the meal inside of sealed tin lined bags (think of them like a flexible can) -- I think the food is pasteurized for long shelf-life.

To heat up the food, you put a little water in the heater bag and close it up. You then put one of the courses and the heater bag together into one of the cardboard boxes and the reaction will kick in in a sec and make the heater bag really hot. You wait a couple minutes while it heats up the food and then you can take it out and eat a hot meal. If there are two courses you can then repeat (the heater bag will stay hot for quite a while). Or you can try and heat up some water for instant coffee.

Most of the meals also come with a little salt/pepper and Tabasco sauce so you can season to taste (which really helps with the omelet meal which I think they got rid of).

Most everything else is designed not to need heating, it's like crackers and peanut butter or something else. There's usually a sports/electrolyte drink or some kind of drink mix fortified with vitamins and such.

One thing that the military is really proud of is that these things have like a 3 year shelf life without the use of preservatives.

You can actually buy civilian versions (without the heater) http://www.mreinfo.com/civilian/mre/civilian-mres.html

Thanks for all the info.

Also, they seem to include the heater these days: http://www.mreinfo.com/civilian/mre/civilian-mre-comparison....

For MREs, everything is vacuum packed in smaller plastic or foil-plastic with a jumble of accessories in another plastic bag. Generally you can save some weight/space by opening it up and ditching the outer wrap and unwanted items.

I heard constipation was a problem for soldiers. One other country supplied fiber pills. Did soldiers take Metamucil or something to help move things along?

Nothing much. Some of the meals have a high fiber cracker you can use with the Peanut Butter or Cheese Spreads and I think the chocolate drink mix has some fiber. But I don't think it provides nearly enough fiber to overcome the logjam inside you. Eventually it just passes. But the meals aren't meant for long-term survival (no more than a month or so) anyway.

I spoke one time with a researcher who worked for the part of the army that put together the requirements for the MREs and the problem is that getting fiber-full food to stay stable for 3 years is an open problem.

If you really look into the science behind the MREs it's really some amazing technology. There's also some really cool hacks they use to keep the food shelf stable without preservative chemicals. I wish I could find the article about some of what they do.

On the plus side of field constipation, it keeps you from having to pop a squat in the middle of nowhere with no cover. :)

It could be intentional?