2016 Halal MRE quick review

[Teddydogno1]

I know you have all been wondering how well the Halal MREs hold up over tiime. I have read that they do not last as long as standard MREs for a couple of reasons, including fewer preservatives and chemicals and the use of lighter-duty packaging on the side/snack components. So how did it do?

I got this 2016-packed Halal meal about 2 years ago and broke it open for lunch today. The main is visible from outside (the OTHER side), showing a Beef Stew entree.



Inside the main transparent bag was a single snack item (the Spicy Trail Mix) and an inner bag with all of the remaining components. The inner bag was date coded 6349 (Dec 2016).



And all of the components laid out.



Main: Beef Stew (date code 6138); retort pouch
Dessert: Halal Vanilla Pudding (date code 6139); retort pouch
Drinks: Orange Flavored drink mix (that's it for beverages)
Snacks: Spicy Party Mix
Snack: Cranberry Trail Mix
Snack: Mixed Nut Crunch
Snack: Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
Accessory pack: spoon, napkin, sugar, salt, pepper, TP, moist towelette, matches

Note that the snacks were packaged in thin mylar/foil packets and were individually marked with "Best By" dates. The Mixed Nut Crunch was BB May 2017 and the other 3 were all BB Nov 2017. So around 3 years past Best By dates on these items.



While the stew was warming in hot water, I made the Orange drink (mixed well, tasted like weak Tang even though I used less than the suggested 12 oz of water) and sampled the Snack items. I knew already that something was off with the snacks as I got a good whiff of stale/off/rancid crackers as soon as I opened the inner package.

The Cranberry Trail Mix (peanuts, cranberries, raisins, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds) and the Cinnamon Sugar Cookies were just about perfect and I ate them all. My wife tried one cookie and declared it slightly stale, but good anyway (and I agree).

The Spicy Party Mix and Mixed Nut Crunch, however, had failed. Both of these items contained sesame sticks that were rancid for sure. The wheat items were slightly stale and had also started to turn rancid. The overall effect within both was to make them inedible.

The Beef Stew contained shredded beef, potato cubes and a very few pieces of carrots and peas. It was GREAT! I really enjoyed this dish and would happily eat it again. The quality was perfect..smell, taste and texture.



The final component was the Halal Vanilla Pudding. This was not a good dessert. I don't think there was anything BAD about it...not spoiled, turned or degraded. It just wasn't very good. Odd consistency and not a very good flavor. I did eat a few good spoons full, but that was it.



So there you have a quick review of a 2016 Halal Beef Stew MRE. The main course was GREAT and half of the snack items were still quite good even 3 years past the suggested Best By dates. The Halal Vanilla Pudding was probably never very good. Only one drink powder. Don't know why they did not include either coffee or tea.

With a stated shelf life of 24 months, that seems to be about it in the real world for the side components. Heck...this one was packed in December 2016 and had sides with Best By dates just 5 and 11 months later! This was the only Halal menu in my collection and the only one I have eaten.

Questions and comments are welcome!

Rob

[blue87fj60]

Never had a Halal meal.
Nice job on review.

[Jim_M1988]

Nicely done. I have approx 10 Halal meals at the moment. Pretty sure they only offer 12 different menus in total. That vanilla pudding looks off compared to what I had, although I did heat mine up so maybe that improves the consistency. It's still best to crumble some cookies in there if you have the option too.

Both US and UK Halal meals don't have caffeine (I don't know if there's religious reasons as with other aspects of the menu?), but they still include the sugar in these US meals. No idea what that's for.

Anyway, I found the couple of meals I've had to be pretty good. The cookies always smell super odd though - maybe mine had gone off, they were still in date when I had them though. I'll be sure to eat mine before leaving them around if they don't age so well!

[Teddydogno1]

It has now been more than 3 days and I have suffered no ill effects.

Regarding caffeine...the certainly makes sense as I understand that strict Halal diet excludes it. But isn't tea consumed in many Muslim cultures? Some tea has caffeine and some doesn't.

Rob

[SentientTootsieRoll]

I recall around 2017 I had a 2016 Halal case and despite the meals only being a year old, the peanuts were completely rancid and sour. I don't recall the other snacks being very good either. I was pretty surprised by that. In contrast with your experience, I found the pudding to be very delicious and I'd say it stands as one of my favorite ration deserts ever. Thanks for the review!