TFF

[mikeoverhere]

Why do they feel the need to put TFF right in with the name of the component? Do soldiers in the field actually give a flying fig whether or not their combat ration cookie or cake is Trans Fat Free?

[cavguy]

I think its a labeling thing to get the soldiers attention (to alert them to something new), most people who try and eat healthy tend to avoid trans-fats. In my experience a good bit of solders try and eat healthy when in the field and will tend to shy away from the MRE items with trans-fat, especially the desert items. Thus I think this TFF label is trying to get solders to understand that, hey there is no trans fat here - maybe you want to eat this now.. Still tons of calories and sugar though!

[mikeoverhere]

Seriously? I would think there are plenty of other things to worry about than if your cookie is TFF or not. An individual needs to eat the entire MRE to intake the calorie content. Do they really want soldiers picking out items? I would think the calories, carbs, and sugar is more important if trying to maintain weight limits. I know some who never have eaten MRE's and it's not like it's a steady diet.

Also, why not just assume the item is TFF. If it's NOT, THEN put a label on (NTFF) it so an individual can then freak out about it.

Did soldiers really avoid the baked items in MRE's unless they were marked TFF? What did they do all those years before TFF was a thing? I kind of assumed they were given rations and told to just eat them, period.

The TFF marking just seems silly and unnecessary to me.

Then again I have worked as civilian contractor for USAF and I remember all manner of obtuse nouns for item names...

Anyone out there who served and did not eat MRE components unless you knew they were TFF?

[Richard w.]

I've been out for over 20 years and I guarantee that none of us cared what was in it as long as it tasted good, but I'm willing to believe that this generation might care about TFF.

The younger guys I know definitely have a different sensibility.

[cavguy]

When I was in I personally knew three solders in my platoon who would simply avoid all the dessert/baked items, because they didn't want the calories, sugar and Trans-Fats from those items. They would usually only go for the protein instead (chicken breast). I also did this for a while when in the field.

We are given cases of MRE's at the platoon level but its up to the individual soldier to eat them if they want. Usually no one is going to stand over you and say hey eat that item/mre.

Now days you are probably not going to lose that much weight in the field. You might lose muscle, but you are usually guaranteed a hot meal (non-mre) at least once a day (usually twice), most of these have a nice protein item for the main. Many guys will bring their own food to the field as well.

Personally, I would avoid the items that contained trans-fats unless I was extremely hungry!

[RockyRaab]

"Healthy" and "MRE" are mutually exclusive terms. There's nothing healthy about a high-carb, mega preservative MRE, I don't care what NATICK says. It will fill you up, give you loads of quick energy, and mostly taste okay. But healthy it is not.

[mikeoverhere]

Personally, I would avoid the items that contained trans-fats unless I was extremely hungry!

I can respect that. Being a fat civilian, I guess I have a different perspective on the matter. Like some others, I just figured most consider MRE's generally unhealthy and nasty such that non TFF isn't going to make it any worse than it already is. I could only imagine TFF or not is only going to be a factor if you are eating the MRE in peacetime and not under combat conditions.

I must say I really appreciate foreign rations in that they generally do not use chemicals, preservatives, excessive dyes, excessive sodium, etc. Many taste more like home cooked food. As for the fat in some of the mains, I actually like that (again, fat civilian here). I hate how artificial our drinks taste and how they almost glow with color for example. Standard US MRE's are very low on my list of sampled rations from around the world, 3rd to last out of about 25 or 30 countries I've tried so I have a pretty low opinion of them and the bias that goes with it. Some of the variants are better.

I'm waiting for them to starting marking components GF and maybe happy fun statements like "This is good for you!", "Stay strong, eat it all!", "Fighting Fuel!" or some other silly nonsense. Pffftt!!