MRE & MCI Myths

[rationtin440]

The posts on FRH pros and cons made me think of this; over the years there have been several myths and "urban legends" about MREs and MCIs. Among the ones I recall were that the lead paint in the MCI cans was to shield their contents from radioactive fallout, and that certain first-run MRE entrees could cause the bowels or intestines to burst if consumed without sufficient water! I'd like to hear from other forums members who may recall these and other rumors about the rations.

[Treesuit]

The only myth that I could never confirm or even have somebody confirm or deny it was the boiling of the outer plastic pouches to heat up the meals. It was said that the plastic had some metallic property to it that if you drank the water you could get violently sick or have diarrhea.

[housil]

The biggest rumor in the German Army until today is, they put you "hang-olin" in your food to suppress the sexual desire. I don´t know if the pun also work in English but they want "him" to hang...

[RockyRaab]

That myth is universal, housil. In the US, they are rumored to put "saltpetre" in the food for that same reason. Saltpetre is a nickname for potassium nitrate.

The truth is that while some foods may have nitrites added for preservation, they don't use nitrates - which have no effect on sexual desire in any case.

[sodjer]

i the british army ,it was said they put bromine in tea for the same reason

[Ruleryak]

Funny how everyone's got a similar myth about trying to suppress sexual urges out in the field.

Speaking of that same FRH thread, it was brought up that the plastic outer bag contains rat poison. Really? No. There was one reference to a cookbook not produced by the military that insinuated it might be possible, but I can find zero official proof anywhere that this was ever true. It seems insanely dangerous to wrap food in something designed to kill creatures with a nearly identical chemistry to our own. If anyone has proof of this please post it here

[housil]

If anyone has proof of this please post it here

As mentioned in my first 2009 posting, the info about the rat repellent came from an US Army medical manual not to open the bags with your mouth/teeth for that reason.

[RockyRaab]

ruleryak, don't confuse "rat repellant" with "rat poison" as they would seem to be two very different things. The original statement (myth, rumor, mistake?) was about a rat repellant. It may or may not have been true in the 80s - or ever. It is also important that the original statement may have referred to the outer bag and not the entree pouch.

I tried to email NATICK Lab with this question, but their email system seems to be down.

[housil]

It is also important that the original statement may have referred to the outer bag and not the entree pouch.

Good point!

[Ruleryak]

I definitely mean no offense to Housil, but a memory of seeing something is not the same as proof. I've read the operations manual, Natick documents, etc and never in the history of the MRE have I seen anything that remotely suggests that a chemical is added to the outer bag to deter rodents from eating the bag. Even just a repellant is unsafe as they'd have to assume no one would ever rest food on the pouch as a mat/tray (which I do all the time). Canteen Cup Cookery may allude to rat repellant, but it is not an official military publication and likely wasn't reviewed by Natick. If the author chose to insert a rumor he'd heard there was no one to stop him from doing so.

I'm still going to chalk this up as an urban legend until I see actual proof with my own eyes. It's just too far fetched to believe in my opinion.

Thanks for trying to contact the source RockyRaab. I'd assume if anyone had the official info it'd be them. In the meantime if anyone finds a copy of anything official with that warning please let us know.