Review of April 2009 Menu C MRE purchase

[Jpak]

I know what you're thinking, why would this yahoo order Menu C MREs with all of the posts on this website stating that items were missing/substituted with a significant drop in total calories. Well, I've never been one to follow the herd...and I figured it's been a couple months since someone's complained about the Menu Cs, so I rolled the dice hoping that mredepot would have gotten their act together. Sadly, nothing has changed but the date codes. Maybe following the herd ain't such a bad idea.

Anyway, I placed my order for a full case Menu C MREs online at mredepot last week and received my order 3 days later ...fast shipping, good start. I paid the standard cost of $79 + shipping. I opened the box and found the actual case of Menu C MREs inside sealed and strapped, cushioned with some cardboard paper padding...nice, good way to prevent damage to the actual case of MREs....promising.

Initial opening of outer box

Funny thing, I noticed that the top of the case had the marking "MRE SF" which I'm pretty sure someone previously posted that it supposedly meant the MREs were meant for "Special Forces," which obviously is NOT true in this case since this is specifically a case of Menu C MREs meant for civilian contractors...but good imagination to whoever thought up that idea...i.e. scumbag ebay scam artists looking to make a few extra bucks off naive buyers.

Top of Menu C case

To my suprise, this case of Menu C MREs was actually packed on 02/16/2009 with an inspection date of 02/2012...so, it's the freshest case I've seen so far. So, I thought to myself, wow! New cases...everything's probably been taken care of and nothing will be missing...can you say pipe-dream?

Menu C Date Code

The case contained 12 individual Menu C MREs, each with a different entreee, in the familiar tan colored pouch. Compared to some of the other civilian MREs I've tried (Sure-Pak, aPacks, MREStar, etc.) , the Menu C pouches seem to be a bit thicker and sturdier like the actual military MREs...i.e. they look like they can take some abuse. So, now on to the true test. I grabbed one of the MREs at random...a Menu #11 Meatloaf w/brown gravy and cracked that sucker open. Anticipation was high...it almost felt like Christmas...but it turned out to be a Charlie Brown Halloween and all I got was a bag of rocks...(obscure reference I know).

packaged Menu C MREs

Anyways, here's what was inside the Menu #11 MRE (left click on the photo to enlarge it):

Menu C MRE (#11) opened and contents displayed

Now, compare what was inside the Menu C #11 MRE that I received from mredepot and the Menu C #11 MRE as listed on mredepot.com:

Menu C #11 MRE that I received:
Meatloaf w/ gravy
Mashed potatoes (substitute for ?)
Cherry Blueberry cobbler (substitute for ?)
Apple Jelly (substitute for ?)
Tootsie roll
True Orange drink mix
green Tabasco
Accessory Packet A


Menu #11 as listed on mredepot.com:
Meatloaf w/ gravy
Cheese spread, bacon (missing)
Caramel Apple Bar (missing)
Chocolate Chip Cookies (missing)
Fig Bars (missing)
Candy IV (Tootsie roll)
Nacho cheese pretzels (missing)
BBQ sauce (missing)
Raisins (missing)
Accessory Packet A

I can't really figure out what was substituted for what, but I am sure that a bunch of stuff is missing or the substitutions were severely lacking. I won't crunch the calorie numbers since others have done it already, but there's obviously a big drop in calories from what's listed on mredepot's website. And can someone please tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do with the small packet of Apple Jelly??? There were no crackers or snack bread included in the MRE, so what I am supposed to do with it??? Squeeze it on my meatloaf or mashed potatoes? I'm sure my 4 year old nephew would dig that combo, but my stomach does funny things when I put weird food combos into it...

Anyways...as you can see, this is a brand new order of Menu C MREs that I just received with a very recent packed on date of 02/16/2009 (so it's not old Menu C stock)...but unfortunately, it appears that nothing has changed at mredepot...especially since I just pulled the Menu #11 contents info off their website today. So, even with new production Menu C MREs, they're still leaving a lot of items out.

I ordered a case of aPack MREs from TheEpicenter (Great customer service) a week or so ago before I ordered the Menu C MREs from mredepot, and I should've known something was off when the UPS shipping notices I received stated that the case of aPack MREs weighed 19 lbs while the case of Menu C MREs only weighed 17 lbs. A 2 lb difference in food stuff seems like a pretty big difference to me. And the aPack MREs from Epicenter are $10 bucks cheaper!

So, there you have it, my recent experience in buying a case of Menu C MREs from mredepot. Packing and shipping were outstanding. If these MREs actually had what's listed on the mredepot menu, it'd be a great MRE, as close to the real thing as you could get...but since it doesn't they're not. You're better off trying to find real MREs or going with another civilian MRE like aPack or Sure-Paks(aPack MREs I'm pretty sure have over 1,100 calories per MRE; Sure-Paks a bit less). Until they finally start filling the Menu C MREs with what items are actually supposed to be in there, as listed on their own menus, in my honest opinion, it's not worth the additional cost...

Learn from my experience and follow the herd (i.e. listen to the warnings on this forum...they ain't lying). I kinda knew what I was in store for based upon everyone else's posts, but I gave mredepot the benefit of the doubt and took a gamble that just didn't pay off. I certainly got a fresh case of Menu C's, but fresh date don't make up for missing food...so, considering the low calorie count, I'll probably end up using these Menu C MREs as in-between meal snacks to tide me over until a real meal. [/b]

[kman]

That's extremely disappointing that even as late as February 2009, MREDepot still doesn't have the menus worked out. At this point, I'm sorry to say that it no longer looks like a case of the manufacturer substituting parts because of shortages - it looks like MREDepot actively misleading customers as to the contents of the MREs they're selling.

I took one look at the contents of the MRE you opened and starting laughing...Apple Jelly...now what are you supposed to do with that? Yum...should you put in on the Meatloaf or maybe the Cherry Blueberry Cobbler?

[Big Galloot]

I have this to say about MREDepot's business practices; http://domains-60.com/oaa9fno9/riot.avi

I still don't understand why anyone would want menu C MREs. If you look at the MREDepot version of what should be in Menu #11; you have meatloaf, raisins and cheese spread that might be considered nutritional and the other 65% is pure junk food. Think back to when you were a kid, did your Mom serve meatloaf with cookies, pretzels, and Tootsie Rolls?

If the pooh hits the ventilator and the best nutrition you have available is nacho cheese pretzels and fig bars, you are not going to make it!

[thenaztuu]

From my understanding the original Menu C was made for a civilian company working in Iraq. The MREs that this company didnt buy were then purchased and sold by MREDEPOT. If your box was a current date, then MREDEPOT has probably started ordering there own Menu C with reduced content to save on their purchase price. I would say any Menu C that is now purchased is going to be their watered down version.

[hannonmc]

I originally bought them because of the extra snacks. Nice to have a few snacks to munch on after the main meal is finished.

I'm beginning to wonder if we should move on to a class action suit with these guys. I have never received an answer back to my queries about the missing components/calories in my case either...

[Big Galloot]

I'm beginning to wonder if we should move on to a class action suit with these guys.

I'm not a lawyer, but I know that filing a class action is not a trivial exercise.

First and foremost, you must demonstrate that there are so many complainants that filing individual suits would be impractical. I doubt that this situation qualifies, there are not enough people involved.

Then, you must prove to the court that you the a right to legally represent all of the potential claimants. It isn't a "class action" when you gather a handful of people with a similar complaint, you need to represent ALL of the MREDepot customers who have been short shipped to qualify as a class.

You will note again, that I am not a lawyer. If there are any lawyers here who would be willing to point out any mistakes I made or points I missed, PLEASE DO!

[Dekard]

sometimes just the threat of a class action lawsuit is enough to make the defendant jump to action.

simply starting a thread looking and asking for people with negative menu c experiences to email with contact information and negative experience info would be a start.

between this board and the ar15 board and similar others, i would say there's enough impacted consumers to get some serious attention.

or a front page post on consumerist.com does wonders.

[Big Galloot]

I will watch with continued interest!

Actually, I am wondering how many people who have ordered these Menu Cs even know what they actually have(or don't have). I have a few cases of actual military MREs, but they still have the bands around them. This is not the sort of product that you want to open up, I prefer the bags to be sealed. Who knows what unpleasant surprises might exist in those sealed cases? But, I trust the military to have enforced reasonable standards, so I am not sweating it.

The fact is that even the people who have heard of the missing items, here on MREInfo, continue to buy Menu Cs. And as far as I can tell, those that have been burned have not been sending any back. Therefore, MRE Depot has very little reason to alter their practices.

Personally, I would not purchase anything from MRE Depot, but I have this thing about only dealing with trustworthy vendors. Silly me!

[hannonmc]

This is very true... I only knew that I had an issue when I had taken a bag with me on a hike.

I am planning on going through all of my bags to take inventory on what is included / missing from all of the meals... Luckily I have a sealer so that I can seal up the bags again after taking stock.

Would I need to do this with my official MREs... no, their quality control apparently works... Makes you wonder what the actual "deal" is with these Menu Cs...

[Jpak]

I bought the case of Menu C’s above pretty much out of sheer curiosity to see if mredepot was still pulling the same shenanigans. Getting actual sealed and unopened cases of real military MREs at a reasonable price these days is pretty much a crap shoot, being that a majority of the ones on ebay look like they’re coming from the hurricane/flood affected areas…so, who knows where they were being stored and for how long? Everyone’s seen what extreme heat can do to an MRE. Plus, the ebay sellers rarely show a pic of the TTI sticker (orange time and temperature indicator) so it’s hard to tell if the case has been negatively impacted by heat…which in Texas and Louisiana is a big problem.

I can only assume that mredepot doesn’t manufacture/package their own Menu C MREs, so there are obviously some issues at the manufacturing plant. But as someone else said before, in light of all of these complaints, mredepot really should crack open a case on a routine basis and check on quality control. Someone just sent me a pm that mredepot finally updated their calorie count (they now claim 1050 - 1500 calories per MRE) and menu list slightly on the website. Funny thing, even though they revised their menu list, the MRE that I opened up is still missing the crackers. Good times.

At this point, who knows? This was my first and in all probability the last case of Menu C's that I'll ever buy.