Meal, Ready-to-Eat
The Meal, Ready-to-Eat, known as the MRE, has been mocked by the very people it feeds. One joke among troops calls it "Three Lies for the Price of One... it's not a Meal, it's not Ready, and you can't Eat it." Yet this self-contained ration is the individual field meal of the United States Armed Forces and the Department of Defense. It is meant for combat or field conditions where no other food is available. How did a meal that soldiers ridicule become the standard way to feed them? What does it take to build food that survives a parachute drop and years in storage? And why did a government ration end up for sale on eBay?
The first American military ration created by a Congressional Resolution came during the Revolutionary War. It fed one man for a day, mostly with beef, peas and rice. The Civil War pushed the army toward canned goods. Later, self-contained kits carried canned meat, bread, coffee, sugar and salt. In World War I, salted or dried meats took the place of canned ones. That saved weight and let soldiers on foot carry more rations.
At the start of World War II, the Mountain ration and the Jungle ration joined the lineup. Cost-cutting by Quartermaster Command officials later in that war, and again in the Korean War, brought back heavy canned C-rations. Troops received them regardless of terrain or mission. More than 100 million cans of Spam went to the Pacific during World War II alone. Canned wet rations lasted through the Vietnam War in an improved form, the Meal, Combat, Individual, or MCI.
Vietnam exposed what was wrong with the MCI. The cans were heavy and bulky, and they did not slip easily into a uniform pocket. They could even injure the soldier carrying them. In the tropics the metal corroded and the food inside spoiled. Empty cans were hard to dispose of, and the enemy sometimes turned discarded ones into booby traps. The shelf life was estimated at 24 months at 70 °F. That proved too short when weather and enemy activity interrupted supply.
Decades of preparing rations since before World War II had taught Pentagon officials a hard lesson. A nutritionally balanced meal was not enough. Troops in different regions and combat situations needed different mixes of ingredients to keep eating the same food for long periods. Meals that matched individual tastes would encourage soldiers to finish the whole ration and gain its nutrition. Above all, specialized forces in extreme environments carried ever heavier loads on foot over long missions. They needed something far lighter than canned wet food.
In 1963, the Department of Defense began developing the Meal, Ready to Eat, using modern food preparation and packaging technology. In 1966 this led to the Long Range Patrol ration, or LRP, a dehydrated meal stored in a waterproof canvas pouch. Like the Jungle ration, it cost more than canned food, and stocking a specialized ration added expense. Quartermaster Command officials limited its use and repeatedly tried to discontinue it.
Early prototypes using freeze-dried and dehydrated foods came from Abdul Rahman, who later received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his work. But those meals needed rehydration, which cost extra preparation time and extra water. The next push was led by Dr. Rauno A. Lampi, Chief of Food Systems Equipment Division at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. The effort refined the retort pouch so it could hold a wet ration with a shelf life of three to ten years. The pouch could be shipped easily, carried in the field, and opened and eaten with no further heat or water if necessary. The MRE took over from the MCI in 1981, first in special issue. It became standard issue in 1986, with a limited menu of twelve entrées. From that day on, it has been in continuous development.
Each MRE is meant to supply about 1,200 kcal. Troops are supposed to eat them for no more than 21 days, on the assumption that logistics units can deliver fresh food by then. The minimum shelf life is three years, depending on storage conditions.
Drops of 380 m by parachute, and 30 m without one, are written into the packaging requirements. The package must also keep a shelf life of three and a half years at 27 °C, and nine months at 38 °C. Short stretches from -51 °C to 49 °C must be sustainable.
Foil is a weak point in that packaging. It punctures easily, it conducts heat, and it is reflective, which may give away a service member's position. Among the new forms of packaging under consideration is a material called zein, which would replace the foil.
A case of MREs carries its production date in the American order of month, day and four-digit year. The 24th of November 1996 would read 11/24/1996. A four-digit lot number follows, a Julian date code that is repeated on the individual components. Its first digit is the last digit of the year, so a 1 could mean 2001 or 2011. The next three digits give the day of the year, from 001 to 366. The code 1068 could therefore mean the 68th day of 2001 or 2011.
Cases are also stamped with an inspection and test date, in which October 1994 appears as 10/94. Rations should stay in a cool, dry place. If stored at 80° for three consecutive years, they would reach the end of their shelf life. U.S. Army veterinary food personnel often inspect them, and the shelf life may extend beyond the test date. Rations are discarded after five years.
Tabasco sauce can turn up in the accessory pack of an MRE, alongside xylitol gum and a water-resistant matchbook. The pack may also hold a napkin or toilet paper, a moist towelette, and seasonings such as salt, pepper, sugar and creamer. Freeze-dried coffee powder rounds it out.
The rest of the bag typically holds a main course that troops call "the main", plus a side dish and a dessert or snack. Crackers or bread arrive with cheese spread, peanut butter or jelly. A powdered drink mix might be a fruit drink, cocoa, protein powder, instant coffee, tea, a sport drink or a dairy shake. Utensils are usually just a plastic spoon. Many items are fortified with nutrients. DoD policy requires units to add fresh food whenever feasible, especially in training.
In the early years, service members heated their meals by boiling them in a canteen cup over a lit fuel source. That was slow in cold weather. It also produced a visible flame, which was a problem at night. Development and testing of a flameless ration heater ran between 1988 and 1989, and the Flameless Ration Heater arrived in 1990. A few ounces of water set off a chemical reaction that gives off heat. Starting with MRE XIII in 1993, every meal included one.
By 1994, commercial-like graphics had been added to make the packets friendlier. Inedible parts such as spoons and napkins switched to biodegradable materials. Field tests and surveys had shown that service members wanted more entrée options and larger servings. The number of main dishes reached 16 by 1996, including vegetarian options, then 20 by 1997 and 24 by 1998. As of 2023, the system includes 24 entrées and more than 150 additional items. That variety lets service members trade items to find something suited to different cultures and regions.
From 1981 to 1995, the outer bag was dark brown, because the ration was designed for the temperate forests and plains of central Europe. In 1996 a tan bag replaced it, better suited to the deserts of the Middle East. A bean burrito main dish arrived by 2000. In 2006 came "Beverage Bags", because service members had come to depend on hydration packs instead of canteens. Without a canteen cup, they had nothing to mix powdered drinks in. The new bags have measuring marks for liquid levels, and they can be sealed and placed inside the flameless heater.
About 4,200 Calories a day is what the Institute of Medicine says a service member burns, in its classification of highly active men between 18 and 30. In combat, they tended to consume only about 2,400. That left them in a negative energy balance. Recent MREs have been developed around the Dietary Reference Intake that the Institute created.
The imbalance appears when service members fail to finish full portions. Adjustments to the food items and to the distribution of macronutrients have raised the kilocalories in each MRE. Even so, more studies show many service members still fall short of today's standards for daily consumption. Portions are often traded away or discarded. Researchers keep studying eating habits and preferences, and they keep changing the ration to encourage people to eat the entire meal.
The First Strike Ration and the HOOAH! Bar were assault ration prototypes, designed with elite or specialized forces in mind. They are lighter than a typical MRE and need no preparation, so they can be eaten while traveling.
In July 2009, 6,300 dairy shake packets of varying flavors were recalled after evidence of Salmonella contamination.
A small randomized controlled trial from 2017 used blood tests to check the nutritional balance of an MRE eaten in whole. It confirmed the balance. The open problem is getting the whole meal eaten.
Frankfurters sealed in pouches of four became "the four fingers of death". The diced turkey with gravy was "Wild Turkey Surprise", and an early beef patty was "Hockey Puck". The whole ration earned the label "Meals Rarely Edible". Quality has improved over the years, but many of the nicknames have stuck.
Low dietary fiber produced a set of cruder nicknames about digestion. It also feeds a myth about the gum. Xylitol sweetener can have a laxative effect if eaten in excess, which may be why people believe the gum contains a laxative. The crackers are what actually carry a higher-than-normal vegetable content to help digestion. By 2015, the average fiber per pack had improved to an adequate 12 grams.
In December 2006, comedian Al Franken was on his eighth United Service Organizations tour. He told troops in Iraq that he had eaten his fifth MRE so far and "none of them had an exit strategy."
Troops also hold a superstition about the Charms candies that come with some menus. They are considered bad luck, especially if actually eaten.
In March 2007, The Salt Lake Tribune invited three gourmet chefs to taste-test 18 MRE meals. None of the meals rated higher than a 5.7 average on a scale of 1-to-10. The chicken fajita meal was singled out for disdain, with an average score of 1.3.
In 2010, the New York Times reported that a French combat ration could be traded for around five MREs. The French meal included cassoulet with deer pâté and nougat. By 2014 it was claimed that MRE menus had improved so much that the exchange rate had reversed.
The vegetable cheese omelet, Recipe No. 4, was introduced in 2005 and is generally considered the worst MRE ever. Soldiers serving in Iraq dubbed it the "Vomelet", a pun on vomit, for both its appearance and its taste. It was discontinued in 2009.
As late as the 2010 deployment to Afghanistan, the mockery had not faded. A veteran recounting it in November 2019 described how the traditional Thanksgiving meal was destroyed in an attack, and the standard MRE shipment was partially destroyed. He called the MREs "accursed things".
"U.S. Government Property, Commercial Resale is Unlawful" is printed on every case of MREs. The Department of Defense requires it because of earlier unauthorized sales to civilians. The warning is intended only for service members, since no laws forbid civilians from reselling MREs. The government tried to discourage sellers, but auction sites such as eBay kept allowing the auctions. An eBay spokesman explained the reasoning. "Until a law is passed saying you can't sell these things, we're not going to stop them from being sold on the site." Military personnel who obtain and sell MREs for personal profit do break the law, under Article 108 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Outside reputable vendors, MREs fall into a grey market where nobody knows how they changed hands or what condition they are in.
In 2006, an investigation conducted for the U.S. Government Accountability Office found multiple instances where eBay sellers may have improperly obtained MREs. Because taxpayers pay for MREs, they are meant for authorized organizations and activities. The investigators warned that sales to the general public represented "a waste of taxpayer dollars and possible criminal activity." The MREs found on eBay were typically older and closer to expiration. They came from "neighborhood yard sales" and "Marine base dumpsters".
The growth of MREs listed on eBay in 2005 led to a government investigation into whether they had been meant for Hurricane Katrina victims. The news media nicknamed the trend "Meals Ready for eBay". Some cases were being sold from Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and other Gulf states affected by Katrina.
A 12-pack case costs the government $86.98 internally, or about $7.25 a meal. That is much higher than what vendors are paid. Civilians can buy MREs directly from the contractors who supply the government. These usually omit the flameless ration heater and differ in minor ways, such as the design of the case and bag or the type of spoon. Buying surplus MREs is legal even though the boxes warn against resale. On the low end, they sell for $2 to $3 on government auction sites like Gov Planet. In the Philippines, the government stopped MREs from being sold in local markets in 2013.
The National Guard has handed MREs to the public during natural disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Maria and Sandy, and the 2011 Super Outbreak. So many civilians ate them that revellers at a recent Mardi Gras in New Orleans wore clothing made of MRE packets. Costumes carried phrases such as "MRE Antoinette", a nod to Marie Antoinette, and "Man Ready to Eat".
Not everyone thinks MREs suit noncombat use. The nutrition suits a combat environment, where service members burn many calories and lose much sodium through sweat. The average of about 52 grams of fat, including 5 grams of trans fats, and about 2 grams of salt are less than ideal for sedentary people. After Hurricane Katrina, a 77-year-old civilian man with prior congestive heart failure developed volume overload from the high sodium in MREs.
The Humanitarian Daily Ration, or HDR, is a self-contained halal meal designed for refugees and other displaced people. It is meant to feed a person for a full day. To suit many religious and cultural tastes, it uses no animal products or by-products, no alcohol, and minimal dairy. Feedback from the Afghanistan campaign led to stronger interior packing, because packets sometimes ruptured when air-dropped. The outer bag is tinted high-visibility red or yellow. It carries an American flag, a picture of a person eating from the bag with a spoon, and usually instructions in English and one or more local languages.
Civilian taste-testing has become popular. The YouTuber known as Steve1989MREInfo reviews MREs and rations from other countries, such as the Individual Meal Pack. He also covers vintage rations like the K-ration.
"Glatt Kosher" in Hebrew and English marks the kosher entrées of the Meal, Religious, Kosher/Halal. Halal entrées are marked "Dhabiha Halal" in Arabic and English. These meals match the nutrition of the regular MRE but leave out the offending ingredients. The entrées come in distinct stylized packaging with a color picture of the prepared dish. Cases of 12 weigh 18 lb and have a volume of 1.4 cubic feet (40 L). The entrée and accessory packets travel in two separate inner boxes, and kosher and halal are never mixed in a shipping case.
The original meals were kosher only. They came in 4 Beef, 4 Chicken, 2 Salmon and 2 Gefilte Fish menus. Now the meals come in beef, lamb, chicken, vegetarian and pasta dishes. Some are Middle-Eastern and South Asian, such as Lamb & Vegetable Jalfrezi or Curried Chicken with Basmati Rice, Lentils, and Vegetables. Others are Western, like Vegetable Ratatouille or New Orleans Gumbo with Chicken. Each menu averages 1200 kilocalories and has a shelf life of 3 to 10 months. A special Passover ration, officially the Meal, Religious, Kosher for Passover, adds packages of Matzoh crackers. Its entrées are beef, chicken served on the bone, or salmon. For less strictly observing service members, the Defense Logistics Agency offers a pork-free MRE of 12 menus chosen from the regular roster of 24.
The Meal, Alternative Regionally Customized, or MARC, was developed specifically for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. It has since spread to wider use, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. MARC meals are entirely vegetarian, an easy way to avoid conflicts with culturally prohibited products. Islam and Judaism forbid pork, and Hindus avoid beef. The meals are neither kosher nor halal certified. Many menus have a Southeast Asian or Indian style, such as Saag Chole and curried vegetables. Others simply match vegetarian MREs, like Cheese Tortellini and Minestrone.
In extreme cold, the packaged wet food in an MRE can freeze solid, and the heating packet cannot cope. The Meal, Cold Weather comes in white packaging. It offers a freeze-dried entrée to be eaten with heated water, the same side ingredients as the MRE, and extra drink mixes to encourage hydration. Its calories and fat are also higher. It replaced the Ration, Cold Weather. The Meal, Long Range Patrol is essentially the same, but with different accessory packs. It is designed for troops who may receive limited or no supply, where the weight of the ration is critical.
The Tailored Operational Training Meal first entered service in May 2001. It averages 997 kilocalories, a lower count for less intensive settings such as classroom instruction. It replaced earlier mess-hall bagged lunches, catered meals and field kitchens during field instruction. Troops get to know the MRE and its contents without taking in calories they will not burn. It uses a transparent outer plastic bag with commercial markings. There are 3 lists of twelve menus, making 36 different meals. A case weighs about 20 lbs (9 kg) and measures 0.95 cubic feet (27 L). The shelf life is only 12 to 18 months. The Modular Operational Rations Enhancement is a different kind of add-on, issued as a supplement for extreme, demanding settings such as high-intensity training events.
The Unitized Group Ration expands the idea to feed large groups. It succeeds the older A-ration, B-ration and T-ration, and comes packed in sealed metal trays that are heated and then opened. The Aircrew Build to Order Meal Module repacks existing MRE food elements for flight crews and tank operators. It can be eaten without utensils and is packaged for confined spaces. Pilots and others who may need a small, extremely portable emergency ration receive the Food Packet, Survival, General Purpose, Improved, with food bars and a drink mix. Similar survival packets fit into the storage areas of lifeboats.
One field alternative to the MRE goes by a brand name. The "Jimmy Dean" is a pre-packaged shelf-stable ration that includes a pre-made Jimmy Dean brand deli-style sandwich.
Updated
Common questions
What is an MRE?
The Meal, Ready-to-Eat is a self-contained individual ration used by the United States Armed Forces and the Department of Defense for combat or field conditions where other food is not available.
What did the MRE replace?
It replaced the canned Meal, Combat, Individual, or MCI, in 1981. The MRE became standard issue in 1986.
How long is an MRE meant to be eaten and how long does it keep?
Troops are meant to eat MREs for a maximum of 21 days, and each ration has a minimum shelf life of three years, depending on storage conditions.
Is it legal for civilians to buy MREs?
No law forbids civilian resale, although cases are marked as government property for commercial resale being unlawful. Military personnel who sell MREs for personal profit break Article 108 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
How do service members heat an MRE?
Since the Flameless Ration Heater arrived in 1990, they add a few ounces of water to start an exothermic chemical reaction, instead of boiling the food over a fuel source.
All sources
63 references cited across the entry
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- 4Kearny, Cresson H. (Major), Jungle Snafus ... And Remedies, Oregon Institute (1996), pp. 286–291
- 6Industrial Assessment for the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE)Department of Defense — December 1995
- 7NewsMRES: it could be worse (and it was)Lisa Burgess — Stars and Stripes — March 16, 2008
- 9Development of the Flameless Ration Heater for the Meal, Ready-to-EatLauren E. Oleksyk et al. — United States Army Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center — April 1993
- 10MRE Info
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- 17Grub, chow, mystery meat – combat food 2.0Peggy Milhelich — CNN.com — 2007-09-13
- 18Military Packages Puttechnology to the TestKate Bertrand
- 19Anatomy of an MREDon Martin — Neil Gunton — February 24, 2008
- 20JournalInvestigation: Military Meals, Ready-To-Eat Sold on eBay2006-02-13
- 23NewseBay sales of military rations scrutinizedAnne Broache — February 17, 2006
- 25NewsU.S. investigates sale of MREs on eBayLara Jakes Jordan — 2005-10-30
- 29Palace: Cops must stop sale of US ready-to-eat mealsKristine Angeli Sabillo — 4 December 2013
- 30What Comes in an MRE? (Detailed Report with 10 Examples)Andrew Craig
- 31Meal, Ready-to-Eat Menu HistorySopakco — 2006
- 32Vegetarian menu, only first appearance footnoted
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- 3613 Great Stories That Have Nothing to Do With PoliticsAnna Dubenko and Michelle L. Dozois — 3 March 2017
- 37NewsA lot of cooks in the MRE kitchenKim Severson — San Francisco Chronicle — 2003-04-07
- 38NewsLean, Mean Fighting CuisinePat McKenna — Air Force News Agency — 1998-04-01
- 39NewsWhat Is Torture? An interactive primer on American interrogationEmily Bazelon — Slate — 2006-09-27
- 40NewsThanksgiving At War: 2001–2019C. G. Chivers — 2019-11-18
- 41NewsMeal, Refusing-to-Exit – scientific study backs long-held belief that MREs make it harder to defecateJ. D. Simkins — October 23, 2019
- 42NewsMeal, ready to eat
- 43NewsAl Franken delivers message and entertainment for deployed troopsCarlotta Maneice — December 14, 2006
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- 45NewsWord of mouth on Ready-to-Eat (with video)Matthew D. LaPlante — March 12, 2008
- 46VideoSalt Lake chefs rate the MRE11 March 2008
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- 50'Fighting Fuel' for Military AviatorsForan, Alexandra — US Army — March 13, 2013
- 51NewsDeep ConcernFebruary 6, 2014
- 58MORE is better when it comes to food rationsJoseph Zanchi et al. — U.S. Army NSRDEC — 10 March 2014
- 59FLW issues MOREs to traineesGUIDON Staff — 23 January 2020
- 65BookGeneration KillEvan Wright — Penguin — 2005
- 66BookCombat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You EatAnastacia Marx de Salcedo — Current/Penguin — 2015