PREP How do you read the date code on MRE?
- Thread starter KenGin31
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NoName
Veteran Member
If it says Da Nang on the side chunk'em...seriously, IIRC the date should be printed on the side of the box , though anymore depends on if you have real MREs or civilian knock offs.
Typically on military MRE's, the first four numbers give you production date, for instance, this string...
2047948576
...means the 47th day of 2002.
The first digit is the last digit of the year 2002 and the next three numbers refer to the day of that year...
...047... which would put it in the middle of February.
Clear as mud?!?
As far as bad after five years, they can be bad sooner if not stored right or be good much, much longer if stored right.
I've eaten 15 and 20 yr old MRE's, some not stored ideally.
Check to make sure there is no bag swelling at all, just throw out if any hint of it, do not open and smell, as you could
be risking botulism poisoning and even death from a good wisp of that upon opening. (That goes for swelling containers
of any food, not just MRE's.)
If no swelling, open and take careful sniff and if at all suspect, toss it out.
To be super sure on any old inventory that passes smell test, cook long & well wherever you can.
Got God, Grub, Guns & Gold?
Panic Early, Beat the Rush!
- Shane
ar10shooter
Inactive
If I understand correctly that is a Julian date 09280 would be October 7 2009. But I am no expert.
Excellent MRE Information resource,
http://www.mreinfo.com/
http://www.mreinfo.com/
MRE Manufacturers use a 4-digit modified julian date code to indicate the manufacture date. This code is usually stamped on the MRE box and pouch. The location of the code can vary. The first digit represents the year, and the last three digits represent the day. Date code 7304 = 304th day of 2007. Sometimes other letters representing batch numbers will be appended to the date code (i.e. 7304C). Since the official longevity of an MRE is no longer than 10 years, and the modified date code makes it impossible to determine the decade of manufacture, this calculator assumes that your MREs are not 10 years old or more.
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Your number does not work in the typical MRE dating scheme, cause
there could never have been 913 days in year 2000 or any other.
- Shane
Interesting, that format is used commercially but not by the military. That likely tells us that the supplier of the MRE's does not do business with Fed/Mil/.Gov agencies. A Mil-Spec supplier would use the single digit year code.
Truly Mil-Spec MRE's are made to last 10 years when stored at 68F. I've consumed them up to 14 years old and the taste and quality was just fine. IIRC the peanut butter separated a little bit and the grape jam got a little watery, but that was it.
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