2009 Tuna MRE Review

Reviews and taste-tests of any MREs from 1981-present
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SentientTootsieRoll
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2009 Tuna MRE Review

Post by SentientTootsieRoll » Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:40 pm

For dinner tonight I wanted to try another MRE from my collection. I randomly grabbed this tuna MRE produced in 2009 by The Wornick Company. Let's open it up and see what's in it!

Here's a look at the front and back of the ration prior to opening it.
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And a look at the inside of the packaging prior to removing the contents.
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Here are the contents of the ration laid out on a tray. This MRE includes albacore white tuna, strawberry dairyshake powder, tortillas, fat free mayonnaise, toffee cubes, pretzels, a cookie with M&Ms and an accessory packet.
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If we take a look at the accessory packet, it includes spiced cider and seasoning blend along with the rest of the standard components usually found in MRE accessory packets.
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For those that are curious, here's what the back of the tuna pouch looked like.
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Finally, here's the entire meal prepared and ready to eat!
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When I first opened the tuna pouch, the tuna seemed a lot denser compared to the current production tuna. I don't know if that's due to age or a change in recipe but I'm assuming it's due to age. It still smelled and tasted okay so I decided to add the mayo and the seasoning blend, mixed it up and added it to the tortilla. The tortillas were stuck together and dried out over time. They were starting to tear when I lightly tried to separate them. I bit into it and the tortilla gave an overpowering stale wheat taste so I decided to discard it. I think it would be okay to eat if you were desperate for calories but I didn't care for the flavor. I've had fresh versions of the tortilla and it does not taste that strong.

The tuna itself didn't have much flavor even with the mayo and seasoning added. The mayo tasted cheap, almost like imitation mayonnaise with corn syrup. It wasn't too fond of it but it isn't bad for being shelf stable. The pretzels still tasted okay but they had a slight plastic flavor. Maybe that's from being in the packaging for too long. The strawberry dairyshake was and is one of my favorite MRE items of all time. If you've had strawberry milk, it's like that but thicker and has a stronger dairy flavor. I don't think they make these anymore and if you ask me, that's too bad!

The toffee cubes turned out to be Choclettos. I love these too and as far as I know, they aren't being produced anymore. They're like a Tootsie Roll but sweeter and has a stronger dark chocolate flavor. The M&M cookie was great too but was almost too filling after all this. It tastes just like a chocolate chip cookie but with M&Ms added instead of chocolate chips. I will add that it also had a salty aftertaste so they probably went a little crazy with the sodium. And of course, the spiced cider was just apple cider and if you've ever purchased any from a grocery store, you know what it tastes like. It has an artificial apple with cinnamon flavor and I really like it, especially during this time of the year.

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Tedster
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Re: 2009 Tuna MRE Review

Post by Tedster » Sat Nov 14, 2020 11:08 pm

"If it's good, they will stop making it" seems to hold true with MRE. When the Cider first appeared I was not happy. Consequently I saved up quite a few of them. I learned to like it, so much that I determined it was a mistake to delete that. I have a half dozen maybe from a recent case purchase that am happy to have stashed. The Tuna always seemed to be pretty good quality. I knew better than to ever try "fat free mayo", that goes straight to the round file where it belongs, if you have Hellman's the Tuna makes a pretty good sandwich.

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Smitty
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Re: 2009 Tuna MRE Review

Post by Smitty » Sat Nov 14, 2020 11:34 pm

absolutely agree. That fat free mayo is tangy garbage with the most ungodly white colour
All the best, Gents.

- I'm also making videos mainly for my own enjoyment, but hey, maybe you might want to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-9gp ... C1dSyPX0w/

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parafireboy
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Re: 2009 Tuna MRE Review

Post by parafireboy » Wed Nov 18, 2020 12:36 am

Good review. Yeah, that mayo is worthless. The tuna is probably my least favorite entree. I’m not a big seafood person though, so no surprise.

Thanks for sharing!

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housil
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Re: 2009 Tuna MRE Review

Post by housil » Wed Nov 18, 2020 5:55 am

parafireboy wrote:
Wed Nov 18, 2020 12:36 am
Good review. Yeah, that mayo is worthless.
No fat - no rancid. I guess that´s why they choose that fatless one.

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