Wornick Eversafe MREs

Eversafe MREs

The Wornick Company is one of the three companies that produce MREs for the U.S. military. Wornick was one of the first producers of a civilian MRE. Their original brand was "Mil-Spec" (see old Wornick MRE page) but they stopped producing it around 2001. Fortunately, they re-entered the civilian MRE market in 2005 with their new "Eversafe" brand of ready-to-eat meals.

Pouch vs. Bowl?

Unfortunately, Wornick's direction on their Eversafe product has not been clear. At first, they released the Eversafes in an MRE-like pouch. Then a few months later, they switched over to a "Heater-Meal"-like bowl design. And then even later, they switched to offering both pouch-based Eversafes and bowl-based Eversafes. Wornick's Eversafe website is currently more bowl-based but they do still offer the Eversafe pouches for sale by the case. For the purposes of this Civilian MRE section, I'm including the Eversafe pouch-based meals here. The bowl-based meals will go into an upcoming "not really an MRE but still a ready-to-eat meal" section.

[Update] Looks like Wornick has changed their mind yet again and the pouch-based meals have disappeared from their website.

The Eversafe meals contain many of the same components as the military MREs - the entrees, sides, crackers, and desserts are usually the same (packaging and all) as you'll find in a real MRE while the accessory packet and heater are different. The Eversafe spoon is white, long, and narrow. It doesn't feel as study as the standard military spoon but is easier to use than some of the other, shorter civilian MRE spoons from other manufacturers. See the spoons section on the Civilian MRE Comparison page for more information.

Heaters

The Eversafe meals contain a flameless ration heater that does not look at all like the standard military FRH.

Another change from the military FRH is that the Eversafe heater must be activated with salt water instead of plain water. Fortunately, the Eversafe meals include a packet that contains just the right amount of salt water so there is no need to guess how much water you need to "fill to this line". Functionally, the Eversafe heater works the same as the standard FRH - insert entree, add water, fold bag over, stuff in box, wait 10 minutes, and you have a piping hot meal.

Menus

A case of Eversafes comes with 12 individual meals. Surprisingly (in a good way), Wornick includes 12 unique menus in each case. This is a departure from all other civilian MRE producers who usually only have 6 menus per case. While the menu variety is terrific, the makeup of each menu is chaotic and disappointing. For example, check out these two Eversafes:

Eversafe #1 - Chili w/ Beans	Eversafe #2 - Chili Macaroni

Chili w/ Beans Dry Roasted Peanuts Vanilla Dairyshake	Chili Macaroni Cherry Blueberry Cobbler Crackers Kreamsicle Cookie Toffee Rolls Instant Coffee

The first menu is pretty skimpy whereas the second menu has a lot more food in it.

Here's a menu listing from a case of Eversafe meals that were packed in April, 2006:

Menu 1	Calories	Menu 2	Calories	Menu 3	Calories
Pork Rib Tortillas Nut Raisin Mix Toffee Rolls Instant Coffee	230 220 310 100 0	Beef Ravioli Pretzels Chocolate Sports Bar Cinnamon Imperials Instant Coffee	280 110 250 270 0	Spaghetti w/ Meat & Sauce Nut Raisin Mix M&M's	340 310 240
total:	860	total:	910	total:	890

Menu 4	Calories	Menu 5	Calories	Menu 6	Calories
Chili Macaroni Crackers Cherry Blueberry Cobbler Kreamsicle Cookies Toffee Rolls Instant Coffee	270 180 150 250 100 0	Chili w/ Beans Dairy Shake, Vanilla Peanuts, Roasted, Salted	280 450 171	Beef Enchilada M&M's Peanuts, Roasted, Salted Instant Coffee	320 240 171 0
total:	950	total:	901	total:	731

Menu 7	Calories	Menu 8	Calories	Menu 9	Calories
Chicken Noodles Cherry Blueberry Cobbler Peanut Butter Crackers Grape Jelly	230 150 250 180 70	Vegetable Manicotti Strawberry Dairyshake Potato Sticks Toffee Rolls Instant Coffee	170 450 150 100	Chicken Breast Strips w/ Chunky Salsa PretzelsVanilla Dairyshake Chocolate Chip Cookies	210 110 470 290
total:	880	total:	870	total:	1080

Menu 10	Calories	Menu 11	Calories	Menu 12	Calories
Cajun Style Rice w/ Beans & Beef Sausage Cherry Blueberry Cobbler M&M's Peanuts, Roasted, Salted	340 150 240 171	Beef Stew Mango Peach Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies Toffee Rolls Peanuts, Roasted, Salted	290 120 290 100 171	Cheese Tortellini Mango Peach Applesauce Toffee Cookies Toffee Rolls Peanuts, Roasted, Salted	230 120 260 100 171
total:	901	total:	971	total:	881
				Average Calories per MRE: Total Calories per Case:	902 10,825