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Here we go with one more mid 1980's meal test. This is from my own personal stash I kept back in the day.
This meal was stored in a dark corner of a climate controlled area of the basement
Meal 7 Diced Turkey was never a favorite meal and I think I just did not eat it because I had something else better.

Bag packed by Southern Packaging Mullins SC

Diced Turkey with Gravy TS 5 oz Land O Frost Lansing MI
Fruit FD maker unmarked
Maple Nut Cake South Pack Mullins SC
Jelly Terra Pack Ga
Crackers Right Away Foods Edinburgh TX
Cocoa Steller Inc Chicago Ill
Pouch Stand
Spoon Small White
Acc Pkt A

Again I opened all contents except the Coffee and Coco
Starting with the main course.
Upon opening The turkey bag I smelled the strong normal scent of Banquet Canned Turkey or Pot Pie filling.
To be clear that is a compliment, it smelled good.
Took a taste on my tongue and it was still had a fresh savory flavor.
No funny taste, Took another bite still good. Took three full sized bites. All good
Gave some to the dog he ate it.
Next item was the Mable Nut cake. It had a fresh maple aroma. the texture was solid.
So I tried a piece. good flavor not chewy or stale. My wife tried a piece and thought it was tasty.
We ate a fair portion between us.
Next fruit cocktail block. Also held it's shape and was not crushed. Ate a few pieces and they were perfect.
Next the Apple Jelly (we must have had a surplus Apple Crop in 86") Consistency of Log Cabin syrup, taste just fine.
Crackers totally fresh salty and still snapped.
Left the remnants outside and they were gone this morning.
I would say again these subcontractors sealed these meals very well. 28 years and it's still fresh not just edible

Great! Thx for sharing and that life threatening self experiment

very nice
always cool to see someone open and eat a vintage mre
it brings back memories from my time as a kid

cheers ken,norway

Bah humbug! That is the MRE that I got bad food poisoning from in the late 80s, after we were no longer issued the MCIs that I never got sick from! Amazingly the entree pouch was sealed, no leaks, and no other signs of anything amiss, and it was in the dead of winter, nice and cold so no heat related issues with the pouch. The case it came from had no other MREs with any signs of damage either, but needless to say, I was careful from then on to never take that MRE again. Luckily for me, being on an ambulance crew of 3, we usually would just throw a couple cases on board so we had a considerable variety to pick from.

Norton wrote:I would say again these subcontractors sealed these meals very well. 18 years and it's still fresh not just edible

I would say so, especially considering that 1986 was 28 years ago.

maybe its like wine,it getts better with the years

when it comes to how long the food stays good compared to civillian food
i think the military have far better control on the producer line than
the civilian production.
and the packing are made for longtime storage not like the store food
since they are not supose to be in the shop for months but are mosly
consumer ready.

here in norway can food have generaly just 4 to 5 years best before date.
and with the new pull lidd the bbd goes down....

cheers ken,norway

noderaser wrote:

Norton wrote:I would say again these subcontractors sealed these meals very well. 18 years and it's still fresh not just edible

I would say so, especially considering that 1986 was 28 years ago.

Sorry I missed a decade

Wow! Flashback... Camp Pendleton, 1986, where we did our field training (along with rifle qualification) during Boot Camp. I remember that the diced turkey meal was one of the MREs that I hoped got tossed in my direction during meal distribution.

Thanks for sharing!

Nice review Norton. I love reading the reviews of the 80's MREs, brings back many memories of stopping at the local surplus store or bumming a few from the local national guard recruiter. My buddies and I would take them camping and devour them. I remember the maple nut cake well, it was quite good.

Good day from beautiful big sky country!
Kyle

Nice review. I honestly miss the FD mixed fruit.