There was an American shelf stable sandwich bread or small loaf bread issued for a while, I saw it one time in the field, at a mobile mess. They had a big box filled with them to pick up as we went through the line. It was packaged in that standard brown accessory pack material, and about the same s...

Yes, I surmised something along those lines .., but again what strategic advantage is there to removing the markings? Or put another way, what were they trying to hide, and who were they trying to hide that ... whatever it was ... from? I'm at a loss to come up with anything.

Chocolate is good for morale, it always tastes good and always gets eaten, and is always included in military rations since time immemorial (and survival kits, polar expeditions and moon shots via Apollo etc etc etc) I think you're not thinking this through :D I think you'll find unsweetened Baker's...

So why the need for secrecy and no markings of any kind? Did this extend to the contents as well? Strange! https://web.archive.org/web/20081025014022/http://qmfound.com/army_rations_historical_background.htm Type X Ration A "confidential" specification for Ration, Type X was issued early in 1944. 58...

I wonder if it is the milk in milk chocolate that actually goes bad, and not the cocoa. The purer the cocoa, or the higher the percentage of cocoa, the better and longer it seems to last. I've found cocoa powder (like Hersheys in a can, or Dutch process in bulk) itself lasts reasonably well, if som...

Cocoa and other items oxidize and lose flavor and nutrients or worse, turn rancid. It looks to me that while the earlier rations weren't as fancy there was more of eye towards durability and long term shelf life. If the packaging is not compromised and the items not subject to wide temperature swing...

The MRE issue blueberry Granola cereal is good stuff. Not enough of it, but that's not news. As a general rule anything that purports to contain milk or substitute for milk (like the Blueberry Granola) is greatly improved by using fresh whole milk instead of water. The Vanilla pudding is excellent w...

Ah, the combination knife-sharpener/oatmeal bar! Those were pretty good. Need a tall glass of cold Milk for that one! The eggs were always tough, in more ways than one. They don't lend themselves to the retort process. Heck, most people can't cook them right in real life fresh. They were not a popul...

People from West Virginia or Arkansas may have a problem with these instructions. Email me with any ?'S. :? C'mon now, let's not perpetuate stereotypes. Some of the dumbest Mfers I've ever met were from big cities, and to get even dumber usually requires several years of higher education and a degr...

I think you guys are reading too much into it. Sugar is instant energy, and doesn't require much if any digestion. Under sustained high energy exertion "heavy" calories are less desirable. In extreme cold weather they also have advantages at times. Now one of the problems encountered then as now is ...