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parafireboy wrote:Thanks for sharing! So far, I've been very impressed with the French rations that I've tried. Were the crackers still pretty fresh-tasting? I've heard that since they aren't retort-packaged they can go stale far before the other items get anywhere near staled or inedible.

I have never had bad or rancid crackers in RCIRs.The oldest ones were 3 years old.There were 2 types in different packaging.In the yellow box the crackers were packed in plain transparent foil and my impression was that the 3 yr old crackers were not as crunchy as the fresh ones but they tasted like fresh.When you open a pack of cookies and leave it open for days...the cookies absorb some vapor from the air.You know what I mean?
The other type is packed in tin foil and I didn't notice anything.This is my subjective experience.

I have had some funky tasting crackers from the RCIR's best by dated 2013 and 2014!

Only crackers I've ever had that were no good were from a Russian IRP. I think it may have just been the flavor/scent of some of the drink powders overwhelming the crackers. US crackers - only ones that weren't that great were about 30 at the time I ate them and they just tasted a little - bleachy.