COMMON STORAGE FOODS III

G. INFANT FORMULA

While not universal, it's safe to say that most folks interested in food storage are planning for families, real or as yet hypothetical. Many of these families include children (or hope to) under the age of two. Very young children such as this have nutritional requirements that are different from adults and require somewhat

different preparations than adults or even older children.

If at all possible, it's best for children up to the age of six months to be breast fed by their mothers and up to the age of one year breast milk should contribute a significant portion of the child's nutritional intake. Indeed, breast feeding can supplement a child's diet in an important way until age two. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics now recognizes and recommends this. There are those

who nurse even longer, but I mention this only as an observation, not necessarily as a recommendation. For the preparedness-minded breast feeding makes

particularly good sense as mama can consume a far wider range of storable foods than a baby can, and she can produce from those foods a nutrition source perfectly suited to her child.

To promote this end here is the contact information for the largest and best known breast feeding support group.

La Leche League

International

Phone (847) 519-7730 or 1-800-

1400 N. Meacham

LALACHE (US)

Road

Fax (847) 519-0035

Schaumburg, IL

E-mail: LLLHQ@llli.org

(USA) 60173-4808

Web: http://www.lalecheleague.org

They can help you to find local chapters of the League in your area and point out useful books and sources of information. When our daughter was born my wife

has attended a number of our local chapter's meetings and borrowed books with which to educate ourselves.

G.1 ALTERNATIVES TO BREASTFEEDING

If breastfeeding should not be a viable option you'll need to find another source of infant nutrition. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND AGAINST USING HOME-MADE INFANT FORMULAS AS A SOLE SOURCE OF NUTRITION FOR A

BABY. If you know you're going to have a nursing infant on your hands, if and when the balloon should go up, you should take steps in advance of the crisis to put away a suitable food supply for the child. Young children have nutritional needs that are different from those of adults or even older children. Lacking human breast milk, you should put by a store of commercially made infant

formula. Evaporated milk, dry milk, sweetened condensed milk, goat's milk and all the rest can be an important supplement for children over the age of six months, particularly over one year of age. For children under six months of age these products simply do not contain sufficient amounts of the appropriate

nutrients to provide adequate nutrition when used as the sole source of

sustenance.

As for soy milk, there are considerable important differences in soy nutritional content compared to cow's milk which is to say nothing of human milk. Soy milk alone is simply not nutritious enough to serve as a sole source of nutrition for children under the age of six months and should not be used as more than a

supplement for children over six months of age. This does not apply to commercially made soy protein infant formula which is a very different product than soy milk.

G.2 SELECTING AND FEEDING AN INFANT FORMULA

If the child you're concerned with is already on the scene then you probably

already know which formula you need to put away. Unless instructed against

doing so by your doctor, my only suggestion here is to make sure the formula has iron in it. The problems of iron in formulas from the nineteen fifties and sixties have long ago been solved and young children very much need this nutrient.

If you feel the need to store formula in advance for a child not yet on the scene (or who is only a contingency to plan against) I suggest storing one of the cow's milk based lactose-free formulas. Two brand names that will work well are

"Lactofree" from Mead Johnson and "Similac Lactose Free" from Ross Laboratories. Lactose is the sugar found in milk and an inability to properly digest lactose is the most common source of infant formula feeding problems. Of course, there is the remote chance the child could have a true allergy to cow's milk protein, but the child could be allergic to soy protein too. It's been known to happen for a child to be allergic to both at the same time. There is no absolute certainty in preparedness, but you can plan for the most likely problems which is why I suggest storing lactose free cow's milk formula.

Unless you store only disposable bottles and "ready to feed" formula, don't forget that both reconstituting formula from dry powder or liquid concentrates and

washing feeding equipment requires the use of clean, safe drinking water. You'll need to carefully examine your water storage in this regard.

G.3 STORING INFANT FORMULAS AND BABY FOODS

Storing infant formula and baby food is easy. Infant foods are one of the few areas in which the (US) Federal government regulates shelf life labeling. All containers of infant formula and baby food should have a clear "best used by" or similar date somewhere on the container which is generally longer than a child will require such food. Unopened containers of formula should be stored the same way you would keep dry milk, in a dark, cool, dry place and used before the date on the container is reached. Opened containers of dry formula powder should be used within one month of opening and the contents should be kept bone dry, cool and in the dark.

If it hasn't been needed by the time the expiration date begins to near it's an excellent idea to donate the infant formula to a nursing infant or organization like a food bank that can put it to use before it expires. There's too much valuable high quality nutrition in infant formula to allow it to go to waste.

H. MREs – MEALS, READY TO EAT

This category includes more than the modern day military rations known by the above acronym, but also their civilian equivalents which are marketed by two of the major U.S. military MRE contractors, and a number of other products on the civilian market that fit better into this category than any other. Over the last several years the number of self-contained meals available in either the new style flexible pouches or old fashioned metal cans has greatly increased. I can‟t cover them all in detail so for this section I will cover only those meals that also include some form of self-contained heating device to warm the food to serving

temperature. This allows one to have a hot meal yet needing no equipment other than a spoon to eat with. Whether you buy self-heating meals or supply the heat yourself to non-self heating meals you should investigate the offerings your local grocer may now be carrying. They have great potential for those situations where cooking food would be difficult or impossible.

H.1 U.S. MILITARY MREs

The Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE) is the current U.S. military field ration for those times when troops are out of contact with their regular mess facilities. In the early 1980‟s they replaced the older C & K-rations that had honorably served since the Second World War. These new rations represented a major leap forward in food preservation technology by disposing of the heavy, unwieldy metal can and

replacing it with the much lighter, flexible “retort pouch.” These pouches are the beefier cousins of the aluminized Mylar bag much used in long-term food storage and are basically constructed the same way. A thick outer layer of tough

polyester film, a thin middle layer of aluminum foil for its excellent gas barrier properties, and an inner layer of food safe polypropylene film to allow heat

sealing. Food is placed in the pouch then specially heat processed for

preservation which renders it microbiologically shelf-stable, fully cooked, and ready to eat.

What‟s in an MRE?

From the Defense Logistics Agency Subsistence web site

(http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/meals/mres.htm) we find this: The twenty-four different varieties of meals can be seen in the

menu table. Components are selected to complement each entrée

as well as provide necessary nutrition. The components vary

among menus and include both Mexican and white rice, fruits,

bakery items, crackers, spreads, beverages, snacks, candy, hot

sauce, and chow mein noodles for the pork chow mein entrée. The

fruits may be applesauce, pears, peaches, pineapple, or

strawberry. The bakery items include a fudge brownie, cookies,

fruit bars, a toaster pastry, and pound cake in flavors of lemon,

vanilla, orange, pineapple, and chocolate mint. Each meal also

contains an accessory packet. The contents of one MRE meal bag

provides an average of 1250 kilocalories (13 % protein, 36 % fat,

and 51 % carbohydrates). It also provides 1/3 of the Military

Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and minerals

determined essential by the Surgeon General of the United States.

All of which is then placed inside of a heavy plastic pouch and sealed. Being field rations they had to be designed to take considerable punishment in packs, air drops, and other forms of abuse remaining safely intact until consumed. By and large they do just that.

All of this sounds rather attractive to the person interested in emergency

preparedness and they are. So much so, in fact, that several years ago the U.S.

military finally said “enough!” to the continuing losses of their rations to the civilian market and banned any further civilian sale. All new MRE complete

ration packs now bear the words “U.S. Government Property. Commercial Resale Is Unlawful.”

This did slow the loss rate somewhat, but anyone that wants the real thing can still get them from military personnel they may know, at gun shows, some military

surplus shops, or via E-Bay. Whether you should do this is up to you, but I will give a couple of cautions here:

#1 – Being a back channel acquisition chances are you have no

way of knowing the storage history of what you‟re buying. Maybe

it‟s been sitting in some nice cool warehouse since it was produced

or maybe it bounced around in the back of a deuce-and-a-half in

the Nevada desert for a month last summer. If you don‟t know

where it‟s been how can you estimate how much useful shelf-life it

may have left?

#2 – Make sure what you‟re buying really is a military MRE or

MRE component. Some of the civilian commercial products can

look remarkably similar, but are not quite the same. Know what

you‟re looking at and make it clear with the person you‟re buying

from that you want genuine military issue (if that‟s what you

want).

MRE Heaters: These devices will either come with your MRE at the time of

purchase or they can be bought separately. They contain a small amount of salt, magnesium, and iron and when you add a small amount of water they undergo a

flameless chemical reaction that will heat an 8 oz MRE entrée by roughly 100°

Fahrenheit (37°C) in about ten minutes. As water is what starts the reaction it is imperative the heaters be kept dry until used. If stored in an area of high humidity the heaters can undergo a slow reaction leading to degraded performance later or even complete failure over time. As a part of the chemical reaction the heaters release small amounts of hydrogen gas which is generally harmless but large

numbers of heaters in a damp, sealed storage area could conceivably present a danger. This is unlikely unless you‟re storing many cases of heaters. In such an event keep them in an air tight storage container with some desiccant.

While any MRE can be eaten cold these heaters can certainly improve the

palatability of the food. Lacking a heater you can simply boil the individual retort pouches in water for a few minutes, lay them in the sun to warm, or tuck them in your shirt. The one thing you should not do is expose them to direct flame.

For more detailed information on U.S. military, civilian, some foreign military MREs,

and other rations please see the excellent MRE Info website at

http://www.mreinfo.com/index.html

H.1.1 U.S. MILITARY MRE SHELF LIFE

Much discussion has gone into how long one should keep MREs on hand before

rotating them out of stock. In this regard they‟re no different than any other type of preserved food. The longer you keep them on hand the more unpalatable and non-nutritious they will become with heat playing a large role in shortening their useful lifespan.

The short answer to the shelf-life question (from

http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/meals/mres.htm) is simply “The shelf life of the MRE is three (3) years at 80 degrees F. However, the shelf life can be

extended through the use of cold storage facilities prior to distribution.”

Of course, that‟s at 80° Fahrenheit (27°C). What if your storage temperature is different? Then you need the storage life chart that was developed by the U.S.

Army‟s NATIC Research Laboratories which basically says that at a given

storage temperature an MRE will remain palatable for so many months as

illustrated below:

Storage

Shelf Life

Temperature

120° F (49°C)

1 month

110° F (43°C)

5 months

100° F (37°C)

22 months

90° F (32°C)

55 months

80° F (27°C)

76 months

70° F (21°C)

100 months

130 months

60° F (15°C)

+

Note: As with any other stored food, time and temperature have a cumulative effect. For example, storage at 100° F. for 11 months moved to 70°F(21°C)

would lose one half of the 70°F. storage.

A complete shelf-life chart for all U.S. military rations may be found here:

http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/subsbo/qapubs/table.pdf

H.2 U.S. CIVILIAN MREs (WORNICK, SOPAKCO, OTHERS?)

Except for contract overruns on individual components actual military MREs,

especially complete MRE ration packs, are not legal for sale on the civilian

market. Recognizing there was a civilian market for such rations both Wornick and Sopakco through its Crown Point, limited, subsidiary brought out similar

products for commercial sale. Their complete civilian ration packs are not

precisely the same as their military cousins, but the individual components are usually produced on the same production lines.

Because there are no legal restrictions on their sale these civilian MREs are easier to find and are generally available in three basic forms –individual components, complete ration packs, and multi-serving tray packs meant for group feeding.

Exact menus vary over time, usually being a subset of whatever the companies are producing for the military at the time of their production so I‟m not going to try to address specific menus.

Some of the typical differences between military and civilian MREs are:

Menu choice. Military MREs presently have twenty four different

menu choices. Their civilian equivalents are currently limited to

twelve.

Ration heaters. These are standard with military MREs, but you

may have to pay extra to get them with the civilian equivalents.

Total amount of food. Many of the civilian offerings contain less

total food than military MREs, typically in the form of fewer side

items. One notable difference is that fewer of the civilian rations

contain the little Tabasco packets than their military counterparts.

The spoon. The spoons in the civilian packets are not the same as

in the military rations. The civilian spoon is white plastic while

the military spoon is brown and of a longer length which makes it

easier to get to the bottom of the pouches without getting food on

your fingers. This strikes me as particularly chintzy on the

manufacturer‟s part.

For more detailed information on U.S. military, civilian, and some foreign military MREs,

and other rations please see the excellent MRE Info website at

http://www.mreinfo.com/index.html

H.2.1. U.S. CIVILIAN MRE SHELF LIVES

One would think that the shelf lives of U.S. military and civilian MREs would be the same, but are they? If you look at the manufacturer‟s websites for what they say about their civilian equivalent rations we find:

Crown Point, Ltd (SOPAKCO)

From http://www.crownpt.com/Q&As.htm

How long will these products last? < /p>

SOPAKCO Packaging uses an estimated shelf life figure of "3-5

years, plus or minus" for its MRE-type pouched food products.

Actual shelf life may vary from this estimate. A key factor effecting

actual shelf life is the temperature of the storage environment.

Storage at temperatures higher than 85F (85 degrees Fahrenheit)

may shorten the shelf life of MRE-type food products. On the other

hand, lowering the storage temperature will help extend the

products’ shelf life. This effect is common to most processed food

products.

The shelf life figures given below for MRE’s are based on studies

conducted by the U.S. Army’s NATIC Research Laboratories. This

study was conducted by NATIC without participation of the MRE

manufacturers. As such, SOPAKCO Packaging cannot verify the

test procedures used by the NATIC labs, nor do we adopt these

shelf life figures as a guarantee of any sort. The data is useful,

though, as a general indication of the effects of storage

temperatures on the shelf life of MRE-type food products.

Temperature (Fahrenheit): 100º 90º 85º 80º 75º 70º 60º

Storage Life in Months: 22 55 60 76 88 100 130+

The above storage data and time periods were based on

"acceptable taste" measures, which is a subjective standard that may vary among each individual. Test participants were asked to

indicate which products they were presented would be rated to still

be of "acceptable taste". Responses were noted, and average

values were calculated to yield the data above.

The above data does not indicate the maximum useful life of MRE

food products. The NATIC study noted that nutritional value and

product safety value of the products often extended far beyond

these time points.

Again, SOPAKCO Packaging in no way adopts the NATIC shelf

life figures as any form of express or implied guarantee of the

actual shelf life of its MRE food products. This information is

provided as a general indication of the effects of storage

temperature on MRE-type packaged foods.

Long Life Food Depot (The Wornick Company’s civilian sales

agent)

From

http://www7.mailordercentral.com/longlifefood/Faq.asp#heate

rpouches

How long do MRE products last - what is their Shelf Life

We guarantee our MRE products to last 5 years from the date of

sale, in a room temperature environment (70 deg. F), no matter

what the production date.

Of course, the production date is visible on all our entrees and on

most side dishes, desserts, and other components.

The production date is a four digit number (date code) on each

item, example "2156." In this example the 2 represents the year 2002 (a "3" would represent 2003, etc.), the 156 represents the 156th day of the year. See the top of the individual box or look on

pouch for the Date Code.

At this time nearly all of our MRE products were manufactured

between 2002 and 2003 and have always been kept in a climate-

controlled warehouse to ensure freshness.

The official MRE Shelf Life Chart, created by the Army's Natick

Research Lab, gives the whole picture and explains why we are

prepared to guarantee our products for 5 years from date of sale.

It is clear that the wholesomeness of the products extends well

beyond 5 years. To see this chart and a more complete discussion

of MRE Shelf LIfe, click here.

Which takes you to the text below

http://www.longlifefood.com/mre.html#Shelflife

MRE Shelf Life:

A main concern in the development and testing of rations for our armed forces has always been SHELF LIFE. An amazing amount of research has been done in the development of the retort pouch and the MRE to determine the exact length of time and the exact conditions under which it is safe to store the entrees and the side dishes.

The main thing we have to work with is the shelf life chart (shown below) compiled by the Army's Natick Research labs. This gives a very good overview and summary of all the findings gathered from all the testing of MRE products.

However, it leaves many questions unanswered. Here are additional facts and observations we have gathered about MRE shelf life:

1) The shelf life ratings shown in the chart below were determined by taste panels, panels of "average" people, mostly office personnel at the Natick labs.

Their opinions were combined to determine when a particular component or, in this case, the entire MRE ration, was no longer acceptable.

2) The shelf life determinations were made solely on the basis of taste, as it was discovered that acceptable nutritional content and basic product safety would extend way beyond the point where taste degradation would occur. This means that MREs would be safe and give a high degree of food value long after the official expiration of the products as determined by taste.

3) MRE pouches have been tested and redesigned where necessary according to standards much more strict than for commercial food. They must be able to stand up to abuse tests such as obstacle course traversals in field clothing pockets, storage outdoors anywhere in the world, shipping under extremely rough

circumstances, 100% survival of parachute drops, 75% survival of free-fall air drops, severe repetitive vibration (1 hour at 1 G vibration), 7,920 individual pouch drops from 20 inches, and individual pouches being subjected to a static load of 200 lbs for 3 minutes.

4) Freezing an MRE retort pouch does not destroy the food inside, but repeated freezing increases the chances that the stretching and stressing of the pouch will cause a break in a layer of the laminated pouch. These pouches are made to withstand 1,000 flexes, but repetitive freezing does increase the failure rate by a small fraction of a percent.

MRE Storage Life Chart A graphic of the chart I have reproduced above.

As we can see both company‟s refer to the NATIC shelf-life chart then give

qualifiers “The NATIC study noted that nutritional value and product safety value of the products often extended far beyond these time points.” and “This means that MREs would be safe and give a high degree of food value long after the official expiration of the products as determined by taste.” Neither state how much or what kinds of nutrition would remain once the food goes beyond it‟s

recommended shelf life, but it can be safely assumed the most sensitive nutrients (notably vitamins A and C among others) will have significantly declined. Old food is not likely to be attractive food, nor will it give long term nutrition, but if it‟s all you‟ve got it‟ll still be safe to eat it.

H.3 BRITISH/CANADIAN MREs

These are basically MREs little different in form than the American made product but made by companies in these respective nations. Shelf-life is the same. Menu choices reflect British/Canadian tastes, of course. Company contact information can be found in the Suppliers Section.

One minor difference seems to be with the Hot Pack company of U.K./Canada in

that they claim their ration heaters are somewhat larger than the ones packaged with U.S. MREs

From the company‟s web site:

Will defrost ice or snow for drinking water.

Will heat 300 g (10.6 oz.) of food or water from room temperature

to 80°C (178°F) in 12 minutes.

Will provide a source of heat for up to forty five minutes after

activation.

Is sometimes reusable for a limited heat cycle (dependent on how

much of the heating element was exhausted in the first cycle).

The chemical reaction is totally safe. When water is added to the

heater, the mixture bubbling away inside the sleeve (magnesium

hydroxide) is a pharmaceutical chemical used by doctors to treat

stomach acidity.

Food grade ingredients are used in the manufacturing of the

heater.

Once activated, the heater will keep hot for approximately 45

minutes.

It can be used as a body warmer or to heat a drink after heating

the meal.

H.4 OTHER SELF-HEATING READY TO EAT TYPE PRODUCTS

As one might expect once the bugs were worked out of retort pouch and flameless ration heater technologies the manufacturing companies that produce them would try them on the civilian market. This has been a little slow in coming, mostly because in the modern day „fresh is best and refrigeration is cheap‟ world their market segment is somewhat small, but they are arriving. At the time of this writing there are several products now available, some of them quite new.

H.4.1 HEATERMEALS

HeaterMeals are a type of MRE in casual clothing. Like the rations above they are a retort pouch preserved meal with its own built in heater. The heater itself is the same technology as the MRE heaters (the company makes them for the

military), but a little different in form, to include having its own self-contained water to start the heating reaction. The meals themselves aren‟t packaged with the idea of rough handling in mind, but they‟ll keep well on the shelf.

The meals themselves come in two basic forms:

An entrée pack with the heater, seasoning packet and cutlery

A complete meal pack with the heater, entrée, seasoning packet, cutlery, side items like fruit, snack, and dessert, and a bottle of water to drink.

If you‟re not having to use them under rough field conditions they represent a self-heating, completely self contained meal.

These meals can be ordered from the manufacturer, a number of dealers which are listed on the company website, or you can often find them at truck stops, some supermarkets, sporting goods stores, and other such businesses.

Shelf life info for HeaterMeals was found at:

http://www.heatermeals.com/faq.html#shelflife

What is the shelf-life of HeaterMeals and HeaterMeals Plus Meals?

HeaterMeals are a high quality canned food, so storage is easy.

HeaterMeals Dinner entrees do not require refrigeration, and are shelf-stable for approximately 2 years. HeaterMeals entrees come with a "Please use by" date stamped on each box. This date is two years after we package the meals, as this is the optimum time to eat your HeaterMeals.

The HeaterMeals Breakfast "Pancakes, Syrup & Sausage Links" and all HeaterMeals Plus meals have a one year shelf-life.

HeaterMeals dinner entrees are designed to safely store (at 80 degrees

Fahrenheit) for at least two years; three years or more, if stored at a temperature of 60ºF or cooler. The shelf-life of HeaterMeals can be even longer; and the unique packaging of the entree and water pouch permits freezing for unlimited storage.

H.4.2 HOT CANS – UNITED KINGDOM

In the United Kingdom there is another entry in the self-heating meal field. This is the Hot Can from Hot Can UK, Limited. It‟s an interesting blend of old and different new tech in that the food itself is contained in a run-of-the-mill pop-top metal can, but the food can is contained in a sealed larger can filled with calcium oxide (quicklime) and a separate water capsule. When needed the self-contained water capsule is pierced with the provided tool allowing moisture to seep into the dry quicklime below and the food can pop-top is removed. In twelve to fifteen minutes the can will have heated to 65°-70° Celsius and remains at that

temperature for roughly forty five minutes which means once you‟ve finished the food inside you can quickly rinse the can and heat something else, perhaps a

beverage.

There are a variety of meals available from the company, each weighing about

400 grams (roughly 14 ozs). Shelf life is “Three years from manufacturing date, or as indicated on printed bottom end of can.” The heater itself releases no harmful or dangerous gasses and if for some reason you should break one open

and spill some of the quicklime on yourself it can simply be washed off again with water.

Company contact information can be found in the Suppliers Section. Hot Cans

are probably also available through retail dealers in the U.K. and elsewhere.

H.4.3 ALPINEAIRE INSTANT – SELF HEATING MEALS

New on the market from AlpineAire is their entry into the self-heating meal

arena. Uses the same retort and flameless heater technology as MREs but in

different packaging. Snap the bottom of the package and in eight minutes your entrée is hot and ready to go. As I write this there are only two entrees with more coming in the near future. They‟re rather pricey at a suggested retail of $8.95 for a mere 240 calories worth of vegetarian food. Still, it‟s a start and with time they may both lower the price and increase the menu choices.

Alpineaire advises an eighteen month shelf life for this particular product line.

They may be ordered directly from AlpineAire or through their many stocking

dealers.

H.4.4 MOUNTAIN HOUSE MOUNTAIN OVEN

Mountain House isn‟t really offering a true Meal, Ready to Eat since you still have to add water to their freeze dried/dehydrated food, but I‟m including it here since it‟s close. Basically, what they‟re offering is their own version of a flameless ration heater and some new packaging of a few of their entrees that allows the pouches to be put into their heaters to be warmed. They call their heater a “Mountain Oven” though they really don‟t bake anything, just warms

things up.

To use their heater you dissolve one of the furnished salt tablets in a plastic bottle that comes in the kit. Place a “heat activation pad” in the bottom of the insulated over pouch then pour the salt water on it. Open up the food pouch, pour in the required amount of water then put the pouch inside the insulated bag and zip it closed (the outer bag is vented). Twenty minutes later the food should be about 100° F. (38°C) hotter than when you started.

Each Mountain Oven kit is good for five uses. At a suggested retail of $11.99 per kit that‟s about $2.40 per use which makes it rather pricey compared to the

ordinary MRE heaters already on the market which can usually be purchased for about a buck apiece or less. Still, like the AlpineAire entry it‟s a start and with time they may come down in price and perhaps be easier to use as well.

The Mountain Oven kits can be ordered from Mountain House directly or

purchased from one of their many dealers as they are distributed.

I. RATION BARS

U.S. Coast Guard approved lifeboat ration bars are not common storage foods.

Nevertheless they have a specific use important enough to warrant inclusion in personal preparedness programs.

As many involved with emergency preparedness discover, finding foods capable

of being stored for long periods of time under harsh conditions that will remain both palatable and nutritious is a real undertaking. This is especially a problem with vehicle emergency kits where interior temperatures in the Spring, Summer, or Fall may exceed 120°F (50°C) for hours at a time each day. Very little in the way of anything usefully edible will survive such sustained temperatures for long before it breaks down, becomes unpalatable, with most or all of its nutrients damaged or destroyed.

This is a problem not only for those of us trying to build vehicle emergency kits but also for mariners needing to provision life boats that might be exposed to anything from desert temperatures to artic climates. In reaction to this and a number of other marine emergency preparedness needs most of the world‟s

maritime nations met to develop the Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) conventions, one of which concerns itself with emergency provisions for lifeboats. In the

United States responsibility for implementing the SOLAS regulations falls to the U.S. Coast Guard and they have developed guidelines by which manufacturers

must abide in order to become Coast Guard approved suppliers of life boat

rations.

Among the guideline requirements are:

Lifeboat rations must be capable of withstanding long periods of high

temperatures or sub freezing weather without significant deterioration;

must not increase bodily water needs with high protein or salt levels yet

provide sufficient calories to keep the body from burning its fat reserves

which also increases bodily water needs;

be compact in size and lightweight;

be sufficiently palatable that injured or ill passengers would be able to eat them;

not constipate nor cause diarrhea;

use packaging that is sufficiently durable to withstand rough conditions.

Those manufacturers that meet these guidelines can submit their products for

approval to be placed on the U.S. Coast Guard Equipment List 160.046 -

Emergency Provisions for Merchant Vessels which may be found here:

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/mse/equiplists/160046.pdf

Each of these companies produces lifeboat rations. In the U.S. the two most

commonly available product lines are the Mainstay Emergency Food Ration and

the Datrex Red (or White) or Blue ration.

The Mainstay rations are lemon flavored and available in 1200, 2400, and 3600

calorie packages. The Datrex rations are coconut flavored and available in 2400

(red or white ration) or 3600 (blue ration) calorie packages. As per regulations both have a five year shelf life. Each package from either company has been

tabletized and subpackaged to make it easier to serve them out in controlled

portions.

Both are primarily composed of complex carbohydrates, fairly low protein,

enriched with extra vitamins and minerals then vacuum sealed in heavy

aluminized plastic pouches similar to military MREs. Flavors are noted above, textures are similar to a fairly dense pound cake. I‟ve sampled both and while I wouldn‟t care to eat them for a week straight for the relative few days a vehicle or similar emergency kit is intended to get you through they‟ll get the job done and not turn into something nasty after a few months of hot weather. In the cool times of the year when vehicle interiors do not climb into oven temperature ranges food options increase considerably with some form of military or civilian-equivalent MRE being well suited to the task.

Something to consider if you‟re building emergency kits or bug-out bags.