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Hello All,

today i saw the first time in my life these US Army T-Ration.
The Big metalboxes with dessert in it.

Now I want some thinks to know about them.

At frist. Is there a Date of produktion printed on them.
(The photos I saw on eBay had a to low resolution to see)

Do thay have a terminal date to use on marked on them.

And the most importend think. If thay have no terminal date to use.
How long after produktion are thay usable?


Many Greetings

Hi Tyr - welcome for the forums!

I don't have any of these in my collection but a number of other members do so they can probably give you more complete answers. But I do believe those are valid T-rations.

I think the ones with the metal lid (like in that picture) were the earlier versions and for the past (2 or 3?) years, they've been using trays without metal lids. As for how long they'll last, the current ones are rated at about 3 years - at least the ones being used in the UGR-E (Unitized Group Ration - Express):

http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/pr ... /ueabt.asp

Here's another place in the US that carries similar T-rations:

http://www7.mailordercentral.com/longli ... ?dept=1029

As for how long they'll last, that's a good question. I know MREs and other individually-packaged rations can last much longer than their "inspection" dates, but I'm not sure how long those big trays of food will last.

Does anyone else have a better idea?

Well. I can't give you an exact estimate. But, several years back, (1991 I think)a guard unit in my state served some T-Rats that were a year or two past their inspection date, and at least one soldiers died from food poisoning. 49 guys in total got sick. That's a general recollection off the top of my head.

Tyr wrote:Hello All,

today i saw the first time in my life these US Army T-Ration.
The Big metalboxes with dessert in it.

Now I want some thinks to know about them.

At frist. Is there a Date of produktion printed on them.
(The photos I saw on eBay had a to low resolution to see)

Do thay have a terminal date to use on marked on them.

And the most importend think. If thay have no terminal date to use.
How long after produktion are thay usable?


Many Greetings

Hello und "Guten Abend" (at 2:45 am)

I saw that picture at Ebay Germany too...
http://search.ebay.de/_W0QQsassZhq_berlin

They are called T-18 (tray 18 servings) and I have over 70 T-rations "in stock" (no - I don´t sale)

They have the same production code as the MRE´s have, see:



Omlett w/ Bacon 3034 = 2003, Feb. 3rd
Ham slice 3018 = 2003, Jan 18th

If do you habe any further questions about, don´t hesitat to contact me (auch gerne in deutsch ) or see our German Forum at:
http://www.multi-board.com/board/natur- ... hlt-epa´s/

kman wrote: As for how long they'll last, that's a good question. I know MREs and other individually-packaged rations can last much longer than their "inspection" dates, but I'm not sure how long those big trays of food will last.

Does anyone else have a better idea?

You know I have "a couple" of them



the oldest (metal) trays I have is Lasagne from 2000 and severals cakes from 1999 - still OK...

According to the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine,
http://www.usariem.army.mil/nutri/2start.htm

Shelf life (the length of time that rations can be stored without losing nutritional value, wholesomeness and quality) varies from ration to ration, but generally it is a minimum of 3 years at 80°F/27°C, or 6 months at 100°F/38°C.
They don´t differentiate Group Feeding (A-, B-, and T-rations) Individual (MREs) Ration Restricted (e.g. LRP) Ration Specialty Ration (e.g. RCW), they just say "rations"

If they look, smell, seems "suspicious" (ballooned, rusty etc.) leave it!
I don´t buy any metal trays anymore, excapt cake - they are to old meanwhile



As I only have metal and plastic from 2003, so I guess 2003 was the year of changing as I don´t have younger in metal, nor older in plastic. I would appreciate if someone can post/link some official information about the year of changing

hello tyr and welcome to the forum!

here the best description ever made by kman for using "rations":

Just practice safe MRE eating:

1. Check the packages for tears, punctures, or swelling. If you see any of this, throw the item away.

2. Open up the item (entree, side, spread, whatever) and smell it. Does it smell bad? Not dog-food bad, but spoiled-bad ? If so, throw it away.

3. Look at the food (can be scary even with a good MRE but you can do it). If the coloring looks off or strange, throw the item away.

4. Take a small taste. If you taste anything strange (something "not right", sharp, bitter, sour, etc.), spit out the food and thow the item away.

5. If all that looks good, chow down!

I often forget to include step 6:

6. Have a phone handy and ready to dial 911 (or whatever your country's emergency # is). And don't eat suspect food when you're alone at home. :-)

ok - i will add it the next time

its crazy how often you (can) use the same sentences ans pictures here. have you ever noticed?

whats up with the MRE-INFO site today? its very slow... (i checked it - its not my pc)

Is it still slow? I think my web hosting provider had some issues earlier today and that might have caused the slowdown. It seems to be running at normal speed for me now.

yes - now it runs all right and fast as usual

kman wrote:Is it still slow? I think my web hosting provider had some issues earlier today and that might have caused the slowdown. It seems to be running at normal speed for me now.

kman wrote:Is it still slow? I think my web hosting provider had some issues earlier today and that might have caused the slowdown. It seems to be running at normal speed for me now.

I though I had a bad connection this morning - but it´s still pretty slow