# MREs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mres/341639>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 26, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mres/341639 "2006-01-26T00:40:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mres/341639/21 "2006-01-27T04:36:12Z")

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> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> More healthful than C-Rats? What was wrong with C-Rats? .

No, I meant more\* tasty\* that C-Rats.

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**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:** [January 27, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mres/341639/22 "2006-01-27T15:26:04Z")

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> [@Not a Well Woman](#):
>
> The hubby and I bought a few MREs at an army-navy store just for a hoot and to our surprise, they were so good we wanted to get some more. I was wondering about them though. Since they are packaged and must use bunch of preservatives, etc. to insure their long shelf life, is it a bad idea to eat them often? There is no ingredients list on the package.

Are your MREs in a dark brown package or a light brown package? Light brown ones are newer and IMHO much better. The newer ones do have nutritional information and ingredients on them but they are inside the individual packages, usually on the cardboard around the main course.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [January 27, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mres/341639/23 "2006-01-27T15:30:24Z")

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And for god’s sake don’t eat them cold if you can help it. MREs have had heater packets in thm for several years now.

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**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:** [January 27, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mres/341639/24 "2006-01-27T16:49:23Z")

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You can also try [Canadian IMPs](http://cgi.ebay.com/10-Surplus-Canadian-Military-Rations-IMP-MRE-No-Reserve_W0QQitemZ6599221613QQcategoryZ135QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). Same sort of thing, but different. I like them better than MREs, myself.

As for heating the rations, if you don’t have the heaters, you can put the pouch in hot water, lash it to the exhaust manifold of your car while driving, etc.

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