Lots better choices for emergency rations out there for the money than MREs.
They don't call them Meals Rejected By Ethiopians for nothing.
http://preparednessadvice.com/food_stora...DHam9IrLcs
The newer MRE’s have a shorter shelf life than the older one. On the internet, you will see two different shelf life temperature charts. If yours are newer, use the one with the shorter shelf life.
Twelve Reason not to store MRE’s
They are expensive!
They are not very tasty and have a limited menu
Their shelf life is shorter than freeze-dried and dehydrated food.
They are heavy compared to freeze dried or dehydrated foods
They are bulky; they take up a lot of room in your pack.
Because they are low in fiber, they often cause constipation.
They are high in fat and sugar.
They are low on water content. You will need to drink water with every meal.
They have very high sodium content.
They are subject to damage from freezing.
Many MRE’s on the market are lower quality civilian knock offs.
They will not stand up to high temperature as well as freeze dried or dehydrated foods
If you think that you really need MRE’s in your storage be careful where you buy them. I know people who have purchased them off internet auctions sites and have received old MRE’s past their expiry dates that obviously had not been stored under the best conditions. To buy MRE’s direct to a company supplies to the military and sells their own civilian version as intended for NGOs and emergency management disaster relief programs. They will look like a military MRE and not be in a clear bag.
Be careful in buying MREs off the Internet because there are a lot of scams out there.
I don't keep MREs in my food storage. Instead I buy case lots of real military LRP-CW freeze dried rations whenever current production military contract over-runs are available from Oregon Freeze Dried Foods. I keep six of these rations in my ruck and a dozen MetX bars.