An interesting smell upon opening a RCIR...

[hannonmc]

I just opened my RCIR menu 2 to look through the contents and I noticed a smell very similar to menthol.

Has anyone ever noticed that? Everything was still properly sealed, but I did notice a slight gritty feel on some of the cans...

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

[kman]

I ate an IMP from 1996 not too long ago and when I opened it up, there was a strong minty smell inside. I think the culprit was some sort of commerical mint that obviously didn't survive long in its packaging and the smell permeated the outside of everything. Thank goodness is was only mint candy and not smelly cheese.

[hannonmc]

Good possibility it was the mint gum that was packaged inside. I was wondering if the esbit tabs had the smell or not and I was trying to isolate it down to something...

[Bypah]

Hi!
I had the same expierience with my RCIR ....Is the mint gum!!!
But all of the contents were in perfect condition and tasted good...
Peace!

[clogger]

they all smell like that sir
i normally open a corner of the plastic outer and that aleviates it a bit

[hannonmc]

Figured it was something simple like that... Just wanted to make sure as this was my first RCIR...

I just had to open the box to check everything out. Will most likely vacuum pack it to keep everything safe until I eat it.

[German_EPA]

that reminds me to my first RCIR opeing

the first i was thinking about was desinfection - but inside an sealed RCIR - no...

dont worry - its only the chewing gum. you will find out that even the cracker will smell a little bit "gumy" (btw: i like them with that smell - specially the sweet ones)

[housil]

btw: i like them with that smell - specially the sweet ones

Have you had the current ones, in the white card board box?
Theys taste like soap to me...

[German_EPA]

what it says on the white card bord box? st. georges? thats my favorite. if yes - they smell like the chewing gum but taste sweet or salty like they should do (to me). do you have a special ration number and year you had the crackers? i have nearly every ration from (BestBy) 2007 on to 2011. so i can do a try.

[shufticush]

Some of the RCIR rations that I have opened have that gritty feel to them, in my opinion, due to the paper wrapped sugar cubes that are included. Most do seem to have a "medicinal" smell to them. The tuna fish salad in Menu #7, when served cold was excellent.