The Numbers Don't Add Up
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:54 pm
When taking out some new MREs for a trade, I came across one meal that just seems out of place. These are all military MREs which were acquired during the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav in September of last year. I know we received some unusual cases of commercial MREs (like Sopako with a variety of three meals per case) in the rush to get us food, but the military MREs we saw were standard - except for this one item. In addition to the MREs I have left over, a friend sent me an assortment of leftover meals that someone else didn't want. Most of the meals had been opened and stripped of their candy. I gladly took their remains, of course. Inside the opened cases, some of the meals were still sealed. Among the meals in these two opened cases there was "Marinara Sauce with Meatballs". "Meatballs with Marinara Sauce" was introduced in 2007 as menu #18, and also appeared in 2008 as menu #18. The meals mine came with were from cases packed in the summer of 2008. Only, this one is labeled "Menu 8 Marinara Sauce with Meatballs". This item has only recently appeared as Menu 8 in the 2009 MREs, but I got it in the late summer of 2008. The manufacturer is Ameriqual. On their meals, they emboss the date code on the outer package. This one sports a date code of 8199, consistent with when it was received. A slip up, perhaps?
