MREInfo.com

So, I asked what everyone likes, now, what does everyone hate or dont like?

I'll start..

1. Sloppyjoe Filling - Just tastes really bland - not much to it - infact, dissapointing and gross IMO
2. Santa Fe Rice and Beans - Bland - little or no taste.

Uhh... that's pretty much it. Can't really think of anything else. How about you guys? It can be old MRE's that you ate recently.

Any gum that came in the MRE's, Veg & cheese Omelets, Beef patty, Pangea bakery wheat snack breads, mocha dessert bars, tuna and tortillas and pretty much any UGR entree.

For me it was the Turkey, Diced w/Gravy MRE entree from the 1980s, pretty much ANY nutcake from the same era, and the Jalapeno cheesespread from current-er MREs (I've tried them from friends of mine, I don't believe the Jalapeno cheesespread was available yet when I was discharged in 2001). Actually another major issue for me with the Turkey, D w/G was that I got violently ill the first time I had it in the field, due to a fairly common issue back then involving tiny pinholes in the pouch layering. "Medic down, medic down!!" Dang stuff resulted in me getting an IV and literally a butt-oad of anti-biotics!

My apologies, ElevatorFan73, I did not read your post very carefully. Actually I have not had issues with any MRE stuff since the 1980s, except for the jalapeno cheesespread and the veggie omelette entree, but I'm not a big veggie-in-eggs eater so that may have contributed to it, and my acid reflux makes it hard for me to deal with spicy/hot stuff. Ironically many doctors claim that very hot stuff like jalapeno can help prevent stomach ulcers.....

Hands down, Country Captain Chicken entree, what the hell were they thinking?
The MRE itself?
The MRE needs a Hexi heater, ala the Brit type.
Lots of coffee. (I'm old school, as well as just plain old)
Some kind of a folding cup, I don't like drinking hot stuff out of a plastic bag...
Put a ' Spice kit ' in every case of MREs, like the WW2 accessories kit.
Lots of spices...
Couple of laxative tabs, cause you know you're gonna need them.
Some NSAIDS, cause there's always something that hurts...
Couple of bandaids, cause Doc isn't always handy.
Common sense stuff, that makes life easier!

A small contribution of a few MRE items I'm not a fan of:

-skittles;
-hot beverage bag.

I general, I don't like the fact that there are so few breakfast menus. I'll second the need for some kind of folding cup. (If they served coffee in those bags at some high-level general staff meeting, it'd happen overnight.) I'll also echo the need for more spices, packed separately for those who prefer bland foods. I don't like the fact that the FRH is so anemic it barely warms one item.

I don't chew gum, but I have tried the stuff they put in MREs. Once.

I'm lucky: I liked everything I've ever eaten. So even though some entrees do taste odd, I didn't find any unpalatable enough to not finish them. Among my least favorites were the older chicken breasts - chicken is so bland that all I tasted was the MRE preservative.

Pork Sausage in Cream Gravy.

There's something about that texture that makes me unable to eat it (even if I'm very hungry ). It's probably because over here the granola and cheese snack bread would be considered a large breakfast already.

The regular beverage bases - pretty much all of them. I haven't been a kool-aid fan since I was a little kid. The electrolyte ones are much much better because they're at least sports-drink and have a purpose beyond sugar delivery.

Tuna/Mayonnaise MRE - so insanely gross. The tortilla always breaks up and the mayo itself is disgusting when compared to actual mayo. The tuna's ok, but I'm only a fan of cooked tuna if it's generously mixed with GOOD mayo.

I have several T-rations of "mystery meat and gravy. they are not palatable even when fully hot.
As someone mentioned before they need some trioxane or hex fuel tablets with either a portable or disposable stove. The Marines already have something similar.
They also need to learn from their European counterpart in matters of food. Menu wise some of the food in the MRE's are not palatable or appealing to the troops in the field.
The MRE had a good run but is time to change and upgrade. They need to go back and reinvent some of the old techniques like the MCI's.
I read some asking for foldable cups. I assume they still issue the old canteen cups. but the proble is you can't warm anything on it with a FRH...