# How many US Soldiers have Died From Bad MREs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493 "2013-10-28T22:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/21 "2013-10-29T17:49:41Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > This is unlikely to be a problem - contamination introduced into food by poor hygiene immediately before serving - although undesirable - isn’t likely to make someone sick. > Bacterial contamination in food requires time to multiply into a dose significant enough to cause food poisoning. Bacteria and other viruses can be on a person’s hands–either the cook, the server, or the consumer. Illness from eating food with dirty hands can easily take a Soldier out of the fight for a week or two. There are tons of available reports from the CDC and WHO on hospitalizations and even deaths which could have been prevented by simply washing ones hands. This acually a huge problem, especially in combat. There are hand washing stations everywhere to prevent non-combat casualties associated with dirty hands. I’ve seen entire platoons get taken out by stomach bugs which were likely a result of someone serving food with dirty hands, or using dirty utensils. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/22 "2013-10-29T19:58:37Z")
I’ve read that in many wars, such as the American Civil War, more troops were lost from malnutrition, disease and accidents than actual combat. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/23 "2013-10-29T20:09:57Z")
I think World War II was actually the first war in history where that wasn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/24 "2013-10-29T20:25:35Z")
Sarge, this MRE is disgusting. Eat it! Nobody has ever died from eating a bad MRE. Why should I be the first? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/25 "2013-10-29T20:35:08Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > My kids loved to eat MRE’s. They’d sell them at the Commissary for a buck or two when they were within a couple of months of their expiration date. Every once in a while I’d buy a few and the kids thought it was a big adventure to eat them. I had a friend who was moving in the early 00s who had a whole stash of MREs that he dropped off on me. I was actually surprised at how edible they were. I don’t remember any of them being offensively bad. And I liked the tiny tiny bottles of Tabasco they came with. At any rate, I quickly ate through all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/26 "2013-10-29T20:56:26Z")
They were called “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians” at first, but I suppose that’s a bit too un-PC nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/27 "2013-10-29T21:19:03Z")
NSSC Natick is always trying to improve MREs. The latest development, announced last Friday, was that they have finally gotten MRE pizza developed sufficiently to be introduced in next years meals. The [current offerings](http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/menus-xxxiii-2013.html) really are quite edible. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/28 "2013-10-30T04:17:23Z")
I can’t find to find the Doonesbury comic (First Gulf War?) where the reporter asked about the experience and BD says something like “now that we’re back, we’re going to hunt down and kill whoever’s responsible for MRE’s”. Reporter says “ha ha, that’s funny!” and BD says “I’m deadly serious”. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/29 "2013-10-30T06:25:05Z")
MREs give me constiption regardless of how much water I drink. The best part of an MRE is using the heater and a water bottle to make a bomb. The bomb being placed under someone’s cot, of course. Never heard of anyone dying from one. You just can’t shit for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/30 "2013-10-30T11:03:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > NSSC Natick is always trying to improve MREs. The latest development, announced last Friday, was that they have finally gotten MRE pizza developed sufficiently to be introduced in next years meals. The [current offerings](http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/menus-xxxiii-2013.html) really are quite edible. They have come a long way since the days of the dehydrated beef patty. But after a few days they start tasting the same. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/31 "2013-10-30T11:41:34Z")
The ground forces are no place for the fastidious dinner. I was on active duty during the transition from C Rations to dehydrated food. While a novelty, the dehydrated stuff soon became as monotonous as the caned stuff. A friend claimed that when ever in the field, sometimes for up to 30 days without made-from-scratch food, he pretty much lived on peanut butter, hardtack, fruit cocktail and coffee made from questionable water. I can second the claim that a coupe of days on MREs will plug you up pretty good. Of course C-Rats do the same thing. A good week in the field and nobody will have a useful bowel movement. “That’s what makes him so mean.” One more reason that soldiering is a young person’s game. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/32 "2013-10-31T13:59:26Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > They have come a long way since the days of the dehydrated beef patty. But after a few days they start tasting the same. True that, but repeated servings of _any_ non-freshly prepared food does that. As for the “Meals refusing To Exit” problem, I’ve found that the vegetarian meals pass through my system with no loitering. So if you make sure to grab a #11-#14 meal if you get the chance, it might help. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/33 "2013-11-01T01:26:20Z")
I’ve asked several current-duty and retired U.S. military pals, and none heard of anyone ever dying from bad MREs. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/34 "2013-11-01T02:47:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > True that, but repeated servings of _any_ non-freshly prepared food does that. > > As for the “Meals refusing To Exit” problem, I’ve found that the vegetarian meals pass through my system with no loitering. So if you make sure to grab a #11-#14 meal if you get the chance, it might help. The vegetarian meals usually have the best snacks. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493/35 "2013-11-01T16:54:08Z")
They do seem to be the only ones with pudding or cookies as the snack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-soldiers-have-died-from-bad-mres/672493.md?page=1)