How does military deal with old rations/food stock

[kturnerga]

Hi!
I was thinking that the US military could give nearly-outdated food and rations to its troops if the government shuts down so as to sustain family members and those living off-base. What does the military do with food stocks (MRE's, UGR, #10 cans of food, packets) when their expiration date nears?

[Treesuit]

Well, I think I could supply an answer to that. Most of the time the military just throws out the MRE's by the case. "Why" you ask, well it could be for a variety of reasons. Most of the time, people throw cases out when the see it is past an expiration date, but of course, we here on the forum know better than that but still. On #10 cans, UGR's and packets(?); again I've seen stuff like that thrown out, again I don't know why.

But the suggestion that we could feed many off post families, especially in these hard times, is a excellent idea and I for one would support that if we could somehow.

[kturnerga]

I think tossing the rations makes sense to the bean counters but it is wasteful. Why don't they let the rations "fall off a truck
or "get pilfered at the dump" without sending G-men out to harass someone over near-date rations? I say that there should be no liability on the part of the government for abandoned foods that fall into someone's hands and kill some kid with a peanut allergy or botulism.

I will keep dreaming

Thanks

[Treesuit]

Well, I agree wholly with that idea. I see everyday far too many examples of food waste being perpetrated by our gov't and "yes" it is our tax dollars but here are some things to consider in your previous post.

If something were to fall of the gov't truck and be snatched up then those rations, they presumably could fall into the hands of a militia unit (right wing group) or maybe someone or some people who might have other intensions. I know this sounds far-fetched in my mind but it was a concern back in the 1990's. There were a lot of urban stories floating around the Pacific Northwest here that some right wing groups were trying to acquire a lot of military hardware for their own purposes and MRE's were a big thing. Now somebody in the White House then came up with this idea around mid 1990's to put warning labels on the MRE cases and MRE's themselves as a deterrent from those groups getting MRE's. I think it was a pretty lame idea but mind you the gov't has a reputation to protect. And if the Taliban or Al-Qaeda wants to get some, well I'm sure they would know where to look...

Again we here on the forum all know better. MRE's are everywhere and you can still pick one or several up at a Army-Navy store or over Ebay/Craigslist/personal contact, etc. I have not heard one confirmed story where a G-man/person is going around busting people for having MRE's in their car, store, house or whatever. It's just too difficult to run every single meal down.

Now if the gov't could put out a disclaimer saying "no harm-no foul" on a case that was thrown in a dumpster or passed out to a few folks with nothing to eat then I'm all for that. I'd be happy that my tax dollars are doing something. But remember the gov't, as well as the military is not in the business of feeding homeless people. They frown on that...

[OtisRNeedleman]

Some near-date MREs and TOTMs are sold at commissaries. Have bought some there.

[Treesuit]

Otis,

Are you refering to some of comissaires down in Southern Cal?

[DangerousDave]

They don't throw any outdated rations away. In the event some cases go past the inspect date date, they are still used, or make there way out into the civilian market, by various means. If you read the fine print on a case of MRE's. It means that the inspect/test date is not meant to be a definate "no use" after this date statement. However, when I was in the Army, back in the '80's, there was a rule, once a case(or 40 cases) of MRE's left the warehouse, and issued to a Company, Battalion, whatever, they were not to be returned. Thus, thats where we find MRE's, and or Cases of MRE's in the civilian market.

[Cracker]

True. Rations are not allowed to be returned due to health/quality reasons. There is no control on storage temperatures during excercises/deployments.
That's also one of the main reasons they don't go over the inspection date that often. And I also don't know if it's the same thing in the US, but in multiple European militaries, rations are good for 3 years.. so they get replaced after 2, so that they can always issue rations with a long shelf life left on them.

[norge]

the norwegian army brings back everything that have not been opened
they save money they tell,so the units dont gett issued more meals than supposed
to be used on each exercise.

cheers ken,norway

[OtisRNeedleman]

Otis,

Are you refering to some of comissaires down in Southern Cal?

No, I shop at the Ord Community Commissary, near Monterey.