Humanitarian Daily Ration MRE Case – 5 US FEMA Emergency rations MRE Varieties - Low Sodium Pre cooked w/Entree, Side Dishes for Hunting, Camping & More, 10 pack, Inspection Date 1/2024 or Better.

Before I opened my first package, I psyched myself up. "There has been a major disaster, I'm stuck here. Stores are all closed or empty. I'm extremely hungry, and I have this emergency food." The bag: Don't take this for granted! It's a very heavy duty, thick plastic, rubbery bag. It's water proof, and doesn't leak. It can be used to capture/store water, or melt snow. You can use it as a bucket. It would also be a very handy emergency toilet. Or just a trash bag. I bet there are dozens of other uses! The accessories: one book of matches, one spoon, and one napkin. If you're like me, you probably don't actually use napkins. But don't throw it away! It can be used as toilet paper, or to start a fire. The spoon is heavy duty with a very long handle. I was trying to think what else you could use it for. It could easily be sharpened against any rock or brick to make a pretty long shiv/knife... The matches are obvious. I would probably wrap them in one of the empty cookie bags, tightly, to keep them safe and dry. The meals: Well, okay, if I wasn't extremely hungry, I would definitely choose something else, maybe McDonald's. It's not exactly a gourmet meal. I opened Menu #1 with the Vegetable Barley Stew and the Lentil Stew. I tried eating them cold, and it wasn't terrible. Lots of flavor, especially after adding some of the crushed red pepper. Definitely tasted better heated up in my fancy microwave. It would be nice if they included heaters, but I understand, because these meals are intentionally cheap. No meat at all, that sucks if you're a carnivore like me. The snacks: Oatmeal cookie was tasty. The vegetarian crackers, there are two big crackers in the package. I didn't like them much, until I put the peanut butter and strawberry jam on them. Afterward, I thought it would be better to have one cracker per meal, and save the PB&J for the other cookies. The shortbread cookie was pretty good. The condiments: Simple stuff. You get salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper. You won't need to add the salt since there is plenty of sodium in the meals already. Unless you have been working and sweating all day, and then you will be very grateful for the extra salt. I'm not a big fan of crushed red pepper, but it definitely added flavor to the meals. Cost: What a great value for calories per dollar!! If you're a beginner prepper or a veteran prepper, you should definitely have several of these boxes (best case scenario, feed them to your annoying relatives or neighbors, while your family eats the good stuff). Complaints: "Menu #1" is stupid, doesn't tell you what's INSIDE. Also, no meat. That really sucks unless your a vegetarian (or you're starving. Then meat or no meat, they're delicious!!)

So I bought a case for emergencies. I cracked one open to try out everything, the lentil stew reminds me of bush beans before they did a recipe change. The crackers really need the salt or peanut butter or both. The shortbread cookie needs the strawberry jam to give it flavour and help it not be so dry. The toaster pastry I am suprised was an actual poptart branded frosting free poptart it was not bad at all, I assume they went with frosting free because the frosting is normally made out of gelatin drived from pork and it therefore is not vegan/vegetarian/kosher or halal. The best thing out of the lot was the fig bar. So armed with that knowledge I decided to crack them all open and use them as a base to make larger ration packs that include an actual breakfast (i.e oatmeal or a breakfast/protein drink mix), drink mixes (i.e tea/coffee, koolaid you get the idea), candy bar, some foil pouches of meat etc. This works for my family and to be fair the stuff is all eatable and at three bucks and five cents per ration pack it makes a great base if you want to add a few bits and make it as good or better then military MREs that are selling at some place around twenty buck for a single full MRE pack. Now if you expect variety don't buy these. Seriously out of 10 packs I got 10 lentil stews (which thank goodness I find them pretty tasty) along with 5 packs each of beans and rice in tomato sauce and pasta with tomatos in sauce. Thankfully 3 packs had 2 fig bars in place of the shortbread cookie (would be great if they could just get the military MRE pound cake to replace the shortbread cookie). I only got plain crackers no vegetable ones which sucks because I was intrested in seeing what those tasted like. So to sum it up somethings quite tasty some bland and or dry, great in case of emergencies and a great base if you want to make larger ration packs with stuff you find on sale or at discount stores that have a far off experation date. Again these are quite cheap when I bought them and therefore made a cheap but decent base to build larger ration packs with, these are really worth the price either way. But again do not buy these if you want variety, don't buy these if you expect a heat source like that of a MRE, dont buy these expecting meat in them either. There is a reason these are so much cheaper then military grade MREs.

Quick run-down: These are cold, calorie dense lentil and bean based vegetarian mush bags with a tolerable amount of spice for flavor. An absolute steal for situations where you can't get food and won't be picky. My family of five made an experiment of trying these out together. The 3 young kids under 5 would only eat one bite of the main courses, they were not fans. The meals are textured like lentils and taste like beans spiced enough to make it palatable. I tried all of the main courses and did not get sick, I have a hard time with onions, garlic, and spices, so that is important. The pop-tarts were squashed, had no frosting, and tasted like a plastic bag. I would recommend bringing your own pop-tarts to the apocalypse. The crackers are perfectly dry and bland, they go well with the strawberry jam. Unfortunately one of my kids is allergic to strawberries so we substituted grape for him. The shortbread cookie is good, a bit dry but somewhat sweet. The peanut butter is good - this is a no-brainer and hard to screw up. The fig newtons were good The jam is good Overall, this is worth having a box to get your family through a few days after your fridge and pantry run out of food in a long disaster. MREs probably taste better, but are 3x as expensive.

5 stars because it has all that I expected. I plan to buy another box, and will adjust rating if I experience anything different. They do not guarantee a variety and says so in the product description. I added this info in at very end of review so you dont have to search for it on the page. ------------------------------------- Update 4/2024. I just realized I have purchased 6 of these so far, and each have been fine. There is a TTI sticker (time and temperature indicator) on each box. This is for inspectors to look at to determine if the product has been over exposed to high temperatures. There are 2 circles. You want them to be same color. If inner circle is dark, then that means product was exposed to high temps. Does not mean it is bad, just means you want to use these up sooner over later. Never have had any issues with this distributor. ------------------------------------- Ok, onto rest of review with information specific to these rations: To start, I want to say that NO, these each bag is NOT meant to be "shared". Sure, you "can", but that is NOT how these are packaged. EACH bag contains enough calories/energy to serve ONE person PER DAY. I saw the review that says something about being for 2 people and I want to make a point to clarify. Also, why buy these (and down rate) if you expect them to be free? Companies make these and are contracted by government to get their money back. Then product is dispersed as needed in horrific situations. Glad to be in a situation to buy these before needed and not waiting for an air drop. Yikes. Surplus is then sold to the public, which is great. I find the current $45 for TEN days of food for one person to be a bargain. Not gourmet, no meat, but it has calories to get through the day. Need more variety or want the addition of a heater and coffee? Then check out "MRE's". Also not free, haha. Humanitarian Rations are meatless. That should be understood, but I am highlighting this as some reviewers are shocked by it. Still it provides protein, carbs, fat, and enough calories to technically provide enough energy to adults. Might not feel like enough, might not totally fill the belly if nothing else to eat, but the body will sustain. Like MREs (companies that make this also make MREs) the packaging material is dense, and may take a bit of effort to get into. They need to be pulled apart at the edge, which is very doable, but for some may prefer to have a knife or scissors available to you. Salmon pink color is the choice after they initially started with yellow a couple decades ago. Since the yellow resembled cluster bombs, the color was changed to this off pink color. The contents for each bag contains around 2200 calories- the amount of energy for ONE person, per day. Whether you eat it all at once, or divvied up throughout the day, the entire contents of each bag is meant for 1 person. There are 10 bags total. So basically ten days of food for one person, or 5 days for 2 people Inside EACH bag there are two different "mains" along with an assortment of cookies, crackers, shortbread and other sweets. Mostly high energy carb based sides. 2 each of each flavor, though the flavor contents is not described on the bag. In MY box, I have ten bags, they are labeled as a number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and there are two of each (two #1, two #2, two of #3. etc). It is only once you have opened the bag do you see what you get. BUT you can surmise that it will contain any combo of the following: Main entrée, TWO of any of these combinations: --Lentil or barley stew --Yellow or herb rice --Red beans and rice --Beans and rice with tomato sauce --Peas in tomato sauce --Beans with potatoes (So, the bag I opened that is labeled as #1 has a pack of peas in tomato sauce AND a pack of red beans and rice). I havent opened the others. I bought this for longer term storage and for use in car BOB. Sides/snacks: (Each bag should contain all of these. I dont recall seeing jam, but I may have missed it. I only tried the main meal) --Shortbread --Fig bar --Vegetable crackers --Peanut butter --Strawberry jam --Fruit pastry (much like a Pop-tart) Accessory Pack containing: (everything listed here was in my bag) --Book of matches (unprinted) --Salt, pepper, and sugar packets --Packet of crushed red pepper --Moist towelette (alcohol-free) --Paper napkin --Plastic spoon ------------------------------- It is what it is. It is emergency food that requires no heating or preparation. You CAN heat it by submerging in hot water, but no "need". I see a lot of comments about it not having a heater. Where does it say that there is one? why down rate on something it doesnt have when it never claimed to? Again no meat. If you want meat, then shop for MREs. Or add this to a bigger pack of your own design. I would add in a couple cans of meat and some coffee. Boom, done. In humanitarian relief rations, the need for meat is null. The meals are basic and provide protein through the legumes and peanut butter, and some amounts across the entire ration. Get more bang for the caloric buck with non meat protein source. Taste is fine. I am not picky. As a ration, the idea is that there arent really any other options available, and you get what you get. I dont mind food like this on occasion. I like keeping a pack of emergency food in my vehicle (which I rotate through/swap out regularly), and I like to have food just tucked away period. Humanitarian Rations and MREs do not have hard "expiration" or "best by" dates. The date stamped is when it was produced. The minimum best by date is typically 3-5 years out, but if you are in the know and not scared by dates stamped on shelf stable food, then you know that food typically last years beyond the date. ---------------------------------- I am adding the blurb that is in the product description and will bullet point it for easier reading. Me thinks some folks missed this part: ---(1) Case of 10 Meals-Ready-to-Eat MRE, 2 servings in each bag for a total of 20 servings per case- composed of 5 delicious meal varieties ---Inspection date: 04/2022 (MRE's do not have an expiration date) ---U.S. military and FEMA issue, ---made in USA ---Fully cooked and ready to eat ---Reduced sodium for a healthier diet ---Units have been stored in a temperature controlled, cool, low humidity environment ---Every meal includes an entrée, side dishes, seasoning packet, utensil, and napkin. Meal kit contents COULD BE DIFFERENT than the listed items. ---Ideal for survival situations, hunting, camping, hiking, fishing, boating, and emergency food supply. --- Long, Stable Shelf Life. ---Designed for maximum endurance and nutrition with average 2200 calories per meal. ---Bundle Description: 2 servings in each Bag Expiration ---Date: Inspection Date of 04/22 ---Country/Region of Manufacture: United States ---Number of Servings: 20 Servings per ---Case Shelf Life: 5 Years ---Item Weight: 2.4 lbs per bag ---Course: Full meal Main Ingredient: Varies Per Meal ---Brand: SOPAKCO, WORNICK OR AMERIQUAL ---Flavor: 5 Different Labelled Menus ---Type: Ready-To-Eat These HDRs contain ingredients that are acceptable to wider range of consumers with dietary restrictions. ---Complementary components are also included to provide the balance of the daily nutritional requirements that call for not less than 2200 calories, broken down as 10-13% protein, 27-30% fat, and not less than 60% carbohydrates. --- A spoon and a non-alcohol based moist towelette are the only non-food components in the meal bag. ---How to eat it: The entire meal is ready to eat. The entrees may be eaten cold, however, generally are more desirable when heated. The entree package may be immersed in hot water or placed in a pot for heating over flame. - ---Please Note: Unlike regular military MREs, these HDRs do not include a flameless heater unit --Each case comes sealed with 10 complete full-day rations, we CANNOT guarantee which specific meals will be included ----------------------- Truly hope this info helped. For real... it is a good time to make sure you have food in your pantry, and food tucked away for longer periods of time if a situation arises that makes food hard to come by. Store what you eat, but it is also nice to have some food stuff packaged like this for added assurance. Great for hiking bags, bug out bags, get home bags, etc too. Or for food tucked away in car or office on days when one forgets a lunch. Etc.

Being curious, I did not want to wait until an emergency to use one. For starters, each bag contains a one-day ration for one person. I opened and enjoyed the lentil stew first. The crackers are a bit dry, and as compared with saltines, they are heavier and more substantial which makes up for the dryness. For dessert I opened the shortbreat cookie. It was large, thick, and not terribly sweet but I was imagining how good it would taste in a survival situation. One one-day ration package also includes a packet of peanut butter, a packet of strawberry jam, another packet of crackers, a serving of pasta with tomatoes and sauce, a strawberry toaster pastry and There is a "fig bar". Not sure if that is something like a giant-sized fig newton, but that will have to wait for later.. While it seems like a very little food for a day's ration, you must consider this as survival food as it was intended. If you ration yourself to only one of these daily food rations per day, you won't starve but you may not feel it is enough food. TIP: I found the packages impossible to open bare-handed. Always remember to keep a small scissors along with your emergency supplies.

These are far less expensive than military MRE's, although the food is much more simple (beans, rice) and bland. Main differences are no meat, no drinks and no ration heater. I heated the entrée pouches in boiling water for 15 minutes, and with the crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper added they tasted good. All the crackers were fresh, though they tend to be crumbly and would be better with salt on them. The peanut butter was good, but the strawberry jam wasn't the best. The pop tarts are unfrosted strawberry and didn't taste very good (no surprise to me). The fig bars and shortbread cookie were good, although the cookie is a bit dry on its own. I think HDRs are a great value for the price. Don't buy these rations if you don't like beans, because that's what most of the entrées are. I received Wornick boxes that had all 5 menus. Ameriqual boxes might be less variety than Wornick or Sopackco. From what I understand there are 5 menus, and what you get in each box is random. 4 stars overall, but 5 due to the price and amount of food.

Firstly, all of mine were well within their expiration date and I got 2 of all meals 1-5. For your home emergency kit, these are a great budget option. They were all completely fresh and nothing was stale or poorly packaged. They're all also vegetarian, but I found the mains to still be super satisfying. Personally I think they're such a ridiculously good value that I find myself eating one every week or two, spread across the week. They are very spartan - a tiny bit more than they need to be, IMO. I'd have paid an extra $0.50-$1.00 for them to include a coffee and tea bag (they come with sugar but no beverage) as well as one more package of vegetable crackers or just all that instead of a cookie, since all the mains pair insanely well with the vegetable crackers. The matches work, but suck (but that hardly matters, we aren't living in refugee camps) and the spoon is of good quality, it comes with black pepper and red chili flakes (both of which are very welcome) The variety is also pretty wanting and very over-heavy on the sweets, which is disappointing since the savory components are genuinely phenomenal - every one came with two unfrosted actual brand-name brown sugar/cinnamon pop tarts (my favorite, so no complaints there) as well as a shortbread cookie, oatmeal cookie, peanut butter and strawberry jam. The savory components are all vegetarian, with two retort pouches and a package of vegetable crackers. As for the food taste itself, I'll start with the weak points. I don't have a huge sweet tooth, so I was a little disappointed in that part. The poptarts are exactly what you'd expect - Brown sugar/cinnamon is the only flavor I like, so that's great. The oatmeal cookie is very dry and dense but satisfying, not too sweet and the peanut butter helps it a lot. I was a lot less keen on the shortbread cookie, which was also very dry, dense, and not to my taste. It is palatable with the strawberry jam to take up some of the dryness, but it's not satisfying to me at all. The peanut butter and jam themselves are quite good. Now for the strengths. The savory parts are the real standout. They're all vegetarian, and the portions seem small, but I'm not out fighting a war, so they work out to be absolutely perfect portions. I just had the vegetable barley stew with some triscuits and the oatmeal cookie + peanut butter for dinner since my wife's not home this evening, and I'm super full. There are only a few different mains too, rice and vegetables, vegetable barley stew, "peas" and tomatoes (Black eye peas), etc. And they are all generally same-y, but with some of the crushed pepper, they've all got a lovely flavor and very satiating. They also all somehow make great dips for tortilla chips or crackers. And the star of the HDR is the vegetable crackers. I genuinely wish I could buy those things by the case, they're straight up fantastic on their own - not dry, not stale, not bland, but they really elevate the mains with some crunch and more savory flavors. Seriously, I wish I knew where to buy them on their own, I'd never buy chips, saltines or triscuits again. The only downside is that you only get one pack per HDR and both rations really need them, so I wind up supplementing them with a tortilla or aforementioned triscuits. I didn't notice them being "gassy" like another reviewer mentioned. I like meat, but I think that person might just need more fiber in their daily diet. I find myself using about one a week on its own, bringing a little collapsible silicone bowl for microwaving the mains and a baggie of crackers or tortilla chips to supplement the vegetable crackers. I'll eat the poptarts if I don't have time to make breakfast, I'll have the cookies if I'm in the university library and studying, and I'll have a main for lunch a couple times a week. I carry my own hot-sauce, so a little of that also livens up the mains. The only way they could be better for this is if the shortbread cookie was replaced with a granola bar or another pack of those crackers (two big cookies a day is just too much), include some kind of beverage like instant coffee and/or tea, and if there was some way to (and this is truly a first world problem) make the retort pouches microwave-safe. Oh, and the bags they come in are super sturdy and tolerate being knocked around like a champ. So overall, for under $5 for an entire day's worth of calories, I'm seriously nitpicking. These are solid for camping, good to keep one or two in your car's emergency kit, and worth keeping a couple cases at home for your disaster kit. I find them a great way to have portion control for the occasional meal throughout the week, too. They were a godsend when I worked in the field as a paramedic and sometimes went an entire 12-24hrs without seeing my station. Seriously though. It's an entire day's worth of pretty wholesome food for $5. The fact that it's edible at all is kind of insane.

I'm giving 4 stars only because it was a good deal but I have not ate them yet . The packing seems to be high quality. The meals fo not come with heaters like traditional mres. When the 5 year recommended shelf like is up , I'll eat them and update my review