Menu number 24, meat loaf and gravy. Questions.

[speedychef]

I recently picked up an MRE at a local army surplus store. I was just curious and wanted to try one out since I've never eaten one before. What I bought was menu number 24, meatloaf with gravy.

According to this page, menu 24 should have changed after 2007. All newer menu listings show number 24 being something different.
http://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-menus/

I ran the date codes on the individual packages inside the MRE and they all came back various months within 2011, not 2007 or before.

I'm not sure why that is. I did try most of the food. It did not taste spoiled except for the mashed potatoes. They smelled like very off. Maybe that's just what they smell like?

[Synthpeter]

I recently picked up an MRE at a local army surplus store. I was just curious and wanted to try one out since I've never eaten one before. What I bought was menu number 24, meatloaf with gravy.

According to this page, menu 24 should have changed after 2007. All newer menu listings show number 24 being something different.
http://www.mreinfo.com/mres/mre-menus/

I ran the date codes on the individual packages inside the MRE and they all came back various months within 2011, not 2007 or before.

I'm not sure why that is. I did try most of the food. It did not taste spoiled except for the mashed potatoes. They smelled like very off. Maybe that's just what they smell like?

So what datecode did your outer bag have and what did it look like?
Oldest Menu 24 meatloaf is 1998 and most recent is 2007. That list has it listed as "meatloaf" as well as "meat loaf", which is a bit confusing when you just search for the word
Could be a 2001, if your datecode was 1xxx-something (since you mention 2011)... which would explain the odd taste of it...

[RockyRaab]

What you had there was meatloaf old enough to get a driver's license.

[Travelowl]

What you had there was meatloaf old enough to get a driver's license.

Then there should be some degree of relief that the meatloaf didn't decide to do its driving lessons in his stomach

[noderaser]

If you had an outer bag with a "graphic" design like the ones in the header at the top of the forum page, it would have been 2011. If it was tan, and had the classic soldier logo and mostly plain text, you have a 2001 Meatloaf. Only using a single digit for the year with the Julian date codes isn't very helpful, IMHO. It should be readily apparent if something is 100 years old; 10 years, not as much.

[DangerousDave]

Meatloaf? Did somebody say 'meatloaf'? Where?