US Military MRE Meals Ready-to-Eat - Inspection Date 03/2018 (Case A and B) - Emergency Food Supply for Camping, Survival & Outdoor Adventures

Arrived on time , both cases were in like new condition. 2016 date on outside of the case. I would highly recommend have a sharp knife to cut the cardboard because they must have used industrial strength glue to seal the flaps to box. I randomly grabbed the first two MREs out of the case. Chicken w/ flour tortillas, and chili with beans . I opened the chicken more. Again a sharp cutting tool is very helpful. It contained one package of chunk chicken, 1 pkg containing two flour tortillas, one chocolate energy bar, fruit powder mix, lemonade mix, gum, cheese spread, Buffalo hotsauce, napkin, moist towelett, spoon. NO HEATER! Opening the chicken first, the odor of preserved meat with water( almost like a canned potted meat smell). Bite size chunk's inside. Next pkg had two small flour tortillas folded in half( soft and tasted fresh)and I added two spoon fulls of chicken, along with hot sauce to each tortilla and salt. For a survival ration the food was ok to be eaten at room temperature, I did not drink the powder drinks or eat the energy bar yet. Two tortillas were enough for one adult male. The hot sauce to me was on the mild side , I didn't eat the cheese spread. The gum does taste good, slight peppermint taste. Overall if some rice or beans were included along with a heater it would be a far better meal. Instead of two powder drinks, a tea or coffee would also improve the meal. I have tried a few other brands, some offer desserts, cookies, brownies, ECT. I did forget to mention the Reese's pieces included. I feel for the money it was ok, it was editable and filled me up. It is for emergency or camping out. Hope this helps someone who wants to know what they might be getting.It IS BETTER to have it the not at all.When I got the two boxes, I thought, boy, they are heavy. I decided to try one - Asian Beef Strips with Vegetables in Sauce. It came with a bag of fried rice. I heated the main course in the heater bag. It worked fine. But I was not sure what to do with the rice. There was no room in the heater bag for both, and not much heat was left when the main course was heated. (So, I zapped the rice in the microwave as a field expedient.) The food was actually pretty good. Putting the jelly on the piece of "bread" helped it immensely. I had a good "bachelor" meal while my wife was out of town.I can't speak to the other meals, but my recollections from eating them 20+ years ago was that they were okay.However, I had bought them for possible use in camping. But they are simply too heavy for backpacking as I had planned. They would be fine if I were traveling by car, but on a multi-day hike, they are too bulky and heavy. Yes, I know our soldiers can carry two or three on them (maybe more), but I am not 20 years old any more.They are genuine in the sense that they look just like the MREs I once had, and the contents are the same. But they will need to be consumed in the next 3-4 years, based on the packing date.Upon arrival checked date codes on both boxes: Box A manufactured April 1, 2014 and Box B Manufactured April 17, 2014. Means they should have several years left at room temp, longer if refrigerated. Freshness stickers on outside indicated they were still good. Boxes arrived exactly as pictured. I opened Box A to confirm contents. Contained one of each menu 1-12. Ate menu 12 (Vegetarian Penne With Vegetable Sausage crumbles in spicy sauce) to check freshness and taste. Heater worked really well. Meal ready in less than 10 minutes. Taste was okay. Not terrible, but not great. Then again, not a big vegetarian. Came with Poptart which was fresh. Breadlike substance with choc pb spread. It was fresh, but a little bland. Orange drink was... orange drink. Honey mustard/onion pretzel nuggets were excellent. Tasted like Snyders of Hanovers. Haven't tasted the vanilla pudding yet (powdered, mix with water) cause I was too full. Also came with salt, sugar, napkin, chicklets gum, spoon, wet wipe, Tobasco sauce, matches, non dairy creamer and instant coffee which I didn't bother trying because all instant coffee tastes awful.The only reason I couldn't give this five stars was that menu 12 (the one I ate) had a small hole in the outer packaging. Obviously didn't affect the freshness, but might have over time. Wish I could go 4.5, but alas...Ordered these 3/1/16. Overall, pleased with packaging and MREs. Description matched items. I'm not extremely well versed in MRE menus and years, so I have included pictures and listed the meals below. The only downside to this transaction is that it was about 10-15 dollars more buying the A and B menus together as opposed to ordering them separately. However, some of the other companies have reviews where customers complained about getting knockoffs. I am pleased with how much I spent and the quality of what I received.I will update on the flavor/freshness in a week or so, after I've had a chance to try them.1 - Chili with beans2 - Beef shredded in bbq sauce3 - Chicken noodles and vegetables in sauce4 - Spaghetti with beef and sauce5 - Chicken with tomatoes and feta cheese6 - Beef taco7 - Brisket entrée (gravy with seasoned beef brisket slices)8 - Meatballs in marinara sauce9 - Beef stew10 - Chili and macaroni11 - Vegetable crumbles with pasta in taco style sauce12 - Penne with vegetable sausage crumbles in spicy tomato sauce13 - Cheese tortellini in tomato sauce14 - Ratatouille15 - Mexican style chicken stew16 - Rib shaped bbq flavor pork patty17 - Pork sausage patty, maple flavored18 - Beef ravioli in meat sauce19 - Beef patty, jalapeño pepper jack20 - Pork sausage in cream gravy21 - Chicken breast fillet, seasoned, garlic and herb seasonings22 - Asian style beef strips with vegetables23 - Chicken pesto pasta24 - Southwest beef and black beans11/11/16 Update: Tasted fine - freshness and contents were as expected.Great deal...just what I was expecting