Unknown Wornick Ration - Help Needed

[QMGE81A]

Hey everybody, been out of the hobby for quite a while. Was pretty sick, but a new kidney and liver later I finally have an appetite and can enjoy rations again! I’ve been sampling more recent MRE additions since the last lot I bought in 2012, lol. I stumbled upon these purely on accident, and it has sent me down a rabbit hole. As a Cincinnati native I’m used to seeing Wornick Cincinnati on MREs, but this is a first for me; Wornick McAllen TX. I found a helpful topic from Kman saying this plant shut down in 2006. I know ham slice was replaced in 2003 with Country Captain Chicken. Dark Brown bags were phased out in the 90s. Any idea when these are from? Anyone ever heard of Field Ready Ration? I tried looking up this Wornick logo for trademark dates unsuccessfully. Thanks in advance for any help!

[noderaser]

The packaging says commercial production, obviously before 2006

Is there a date code pressed or stamped in the packaging anywhere? Sometimes they can be kind of light and hard to see.

[Smitty]

Great to see you back! I agree, definitely civilian, but I’m not sure when from, I know they had Mil-Spec rations in the 90’s, and then switched over to Eversafe. Maybe sometime around the switch?

[ViperGTS]

Welcome back! Yup, civilian. Wornick had a Texas plant, but that is closing based on what Kman just found:

viewtopic.php?t=415


Here are a couple other examples that Oscar was kind enough to do a trade for with me (Ignore the LRP) Also, Sean did a video of one, take a look:

[QMGE81A]

Thanks for the info ViperGTS! Much appreciated.

[Tedster]

Hey everybody, been out of the hobby for quite a while. Was pretty sick, but a new kidney and liver later I finally have an appetite and can enjoy rations again! I’ve been sampling more recent MRE additions since the last lot I bought in 2012

One would think you would have learned your lesson by now!