A little confused about meatballs MRE

[Menu_9_Stew]

Hello,

I was eating an MRE yesterday and I noticed something funny about it. It seemed strange.

I had a menu #21 Meatballs in Marinara Sauce MRE.

First of all, there were tortillas in it and the last time there were tortillas was in 2011. Also, that being the case, it would be Menu #8; not menu #21.

Second, No cheese spread.

Third, jalapeno cheezits were in it. (was I supposed to mix it in there?)

Forth, they included a chocolate dairy shake. Desert was poppyseed cake.

The outer package (see attached photo) was flimsy. It did not have that nice beefy thick plastic that you would expect from an MRE. Almost felt fake.

This was weird and mismatched. The number for this menu is blowing my mind. No where is there a Menu 21 meatballs http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/mre-menus.html.

Now before you say it is civilian, I can assure you it is not. Not only does the packet have a gov warning on it, but I picked it up at supply because they had an open box that had several of these left over from a field exercise. My buddy was like "take what you want from it, there's no way to store an open box from God knows what unit left it behind."

Someone please school me,I have no idea what I found.

[Menu_9_Stew]

Hmm... I am beginning to suspect that they have a little liberty when it comes to printing things at Wornick. Since this MRE resembles the Tuna menu the closest, they might have switched numbers with... wait no...I have no idea.

Either way, I'll keep this anomalously love child of the Menu #8 and the Menu #21.

I feel like this is a NO GO with the people of Natick. Like some kind of contract breach.

[cavguy]

Weird, yes you probably got the needle in the haystack with that one a big boo boo on the manufacturer's part, but I am sure a certain percentage of these are out there, as no one is perfect. Govt. inspectors are supposed to inspect the rations at random throughout the contract to assure consistency, they must have missed this pallet or lot. I have heard through the grape vine that if they inspect one MRE out of a lot at random and find one major deficiency they will reject the whole lot of god knows how many cases.

[laughing_man]

I read the affair by the Japanese blog recently.
http://tokyocarol.militaryblog.jp/e552453.html

The blog is writing that the menu was changed owing to the following news.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/03/k ... 5Kp302KAuV

[housil]

Great find laughing_man, that explains a lot.

[Horsesoldier]

The outer package (see attached photo) was flimsy. It did not have that nice beefy thick plastic that you would expect from an MRE. Almost felt fake.

I think either one of the manufacturers uses different plastic or the spec has changed? I noticed the same thing with some MREs on my last deployment. Plastic seems thinner and has a slight textured feeling to it compared to standard MRE outer bags.

[Menu_9_Stew]

Hahahaha... I am sitting here cannibalizing another MRE while reading this. THANK YOU laughing_man. I see now. The tuna was a big no no from HACCP. I see.

I am eating cheese spread and Italian bread sticks from the pesto pasta MRE while I pontificate over the change.

I am such a nerd when it comes to MREs. Everyone from my unit looks at me sideways for loving this food.

So now that I have this in mind, I will continue eating unabated and hungry.

Ohhh... I ended up with a whole bunch of MCW packs that I will review soon. I ate the other 7 while I was wandering around (great for camping while on leave in the mountains).

However, what I have left, I will review so that others will know how good they are. (other than the pasta and meat sauce. That was the most monolithic flavor and texture I had ever experienced).

I wish I could have done the Halal review but I lost all the photos for each of the ones I ate. I had a table full of them when they were forgotten about and not issued to anyone... THEY ALL GOT THROWN AWAY! Apparently it costs too much to have them shipped back to the parent unit. Makes sense I guess but.... meh

Thank you everyone for your expert answers.

[Unimproved]

I've had one of these too a while ago:

Kicking this up since I've just had something similar.

I've recently received a case B of 2011 MRE's (my introduction to them actually, many followed ). Completely sealed just like the others I have for reference now.

While unpacking, I noticed something strange: Instead of a Menu 21 Lemon Pepper Tuna, I received a Menu 8 Meatballs w/Marinara Sauce.
I've kept the thing for a few months, but now decided to open it. It's contents:
Meatballs w/Marinara Sauce - Okay, it isn't a bad dish. Kinda wanted to try the Tuna too since it's the only one I haven't tasted.
Tortillas - Meh, went good in taste with the meatballs. Mashed potatoes fitted the amount of gravy better.
Patriotic Cookies (more like crumbles) - I don't know what happened to these, but calling them cookies isn't something I'd do.
Cherry Blueberry Cobbler - Nothing wrong with this.
Chocolate dairy shake - Gross. It tasted like there was twice as many milk power than in the normal choc dairy shake.
Mayonnaise - Being Dutch, I'd have tried tried the meatballs with mayo. If it wasn't gross fat free I-wouldn't-call-it-mayo.
Accessory packet B
Hot beverage bag - I'm totally gonna need this.

It also lacked a spoon.
Other than the mayo, cookies and the lack of candy, nothing seemed that bad at first.


"Now how do I heat my damn meatballs?!"
Overall, I'd be pretty pissed to get this in the field.