MREs: a review (CANADA)

[miguelencanarias]

Some of you will remember a couple of reviews I made of the US and Spanish MREs a few months ago:

MREs: detailed look (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79460)
Spanish MREs (Raciones de Campaña) (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79662)

(Thanks Resurrection for the links!)


The point is, many of you encouraged me to keep posting reviews of rations from other countries.

So here comes the Canadian MREs.

I will start by the end. After trying the Canadian rations, I have to say this to the American and Spanish creators of their respective meal packages:

You blots, you stones, you worse than senseless things! You hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome! Be gone! Away, I say, for how dare you to compare yourselves with the almighty Canadians and their god-like field feasts! You should be ashamed! You should blush at the very mention of Canadian MREs! You should tear apart your clothes, cover your mirrors and windows, pour ashes on your hair, fall upon your knees and cry of shame and humiliation!

Seriously, folks, this stuff is good. I mean really good.

Not only everything is tasty, plentiful and even looks good, also you don’t feel like praying for a quick death after eating the main course, like I did with the American beef Teriyaki and others with the seafood jambalaya or ham omelette.

Ok, to the review (Drag & Drop the pics on the browser's address bar to see the pics in their actual size (800x600):

At first glance the Canadian MRE looks like one of those lunch paper bags our mothers gave us when we were kids.

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre02.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre03.jpg




The size is about the same of the other rations (I included an American MRE and the Spanish version, as well as a CD for size comparison):

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre07.jpg

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre05.jpg

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre04.jpg




The package seems unusually weak at first glance. Looks like a thin cardboard or paper that could be penetrated by water if it begins to rain. But when you open it, you can see a second layer of plastic lining:

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre06.jpg



When you spread on the table the content of the bag, you find this. I chose the breakfast package:

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre09.jpg

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre10.jpg



Let me see…

Ananas tidbits
Beans and wieners
Bread
Trident chewing gum
Whitener (powdered cream)
Sugar
Empty box
Towel
Tooth pick
Mermelade (fruit jam)
Instant coffee
Hot chocolate beverage powder
Raspberry beverage powder
Honey and almond flavoured oatmeal cereal (oh yeah)
Matches
Salt
Pepper
Candy
Plastic spoon

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre12.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre13.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre14.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre15.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre18.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre19.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre20.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre21.jpg



The bread is reasonably good (specially with the mermelade), nothing like that thing from hell Americans call wheat snack bread , that I had the misfortune to try in a MRE months ago. I am still trying to forget that. I guess that wheat bread is what they mean when they talk of the horrors of war.


http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre22.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre23.jpg



The Ananas and Beans and wieners boxes look pretty much like the American MRE’s main course. Alas! No heater for the beans. Instructions to cook the bag in a pan of boiling water (not that easy in the field, you know?)

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre11.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre27.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre24.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre25.jpg
http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre26.jpg



The Ananas is wonderful. Tasty, juicy, a feast, unseen in any military ration so far.

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre28.jpg



The beans and wieners are good, too. I am a single man with no woman of the house and I cannot resort to complicated arrangements like a pan with boiling water. That’s what God invented the microwave for. So I pushed the button and I ate my delicious beans and wiener slices.

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre29.jpg



They include a candy that not even Alien’s acid blood can dissolve. So your only option is to put it in your mouth and slowly suck it for a couple of hours. Guess what: it is really tasty!

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre30.jpg



At this point I couldn’t eat any more, so I packed the things and left them for any other occasion.



The beauty of the whole thing, what makes you want to ask for the Canadian nationality, is that the Canuck military wants your opinion of their food!! They include a form!!


http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre16.jpg

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre17.jpg

You have to LOVE these guys!

[ERASERHEAD]

mmmmm :)

thank you

[Canuck Farrier]

They are very good,you need a good meal in the field Its very important.I remember some of them used to have chocolate bars and treats probably the lunch and dinner ones.We also discovered the bread wasnt so bad if you throw it in hot water in the package while your heating your meal.It moistened it a little more.

[Roy Batty]

Glad you liked them, but trust me when I say that you can get pretty sick of eating them when you have to do it 3 meals a day, day after day for weeks. ;)

Also; here they are not called MREs, They are IMPs ( individual meal packs ).

[east coast shooter]

Isnt there a heater for them? Atleast I remeber seeing one at one point. I think these rations are some of the best and yes the lunch ones come with some form of hersey chocolate bar.

[Resurrection]

Thanks, very interesting!

MREs: detailed look (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79460)
Spanish MREs (Raciones de Campaña) (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79662)

[Daniel San]

Very nice review, thanks many. Did I see mango peach apple blend in the fruit & desserts list?

The CF are presently updating their IMPs (Individual Meal Pack - the equivalent of US MREs) and asking personnel to test them (as seen on the army website).

Here's a link to the complete IMP menu : http://www.mreinfo.com/imps.html

[ansonau]

I am looking forward to the other country , such as Australia...

[Whitcomb]

I'd really like to see the British meals for their troops.

[Hutz]

The best part is they get progressively better every year, and thank god we got rid of 'hamsteak and pineapple sauce'. What kind of breakfast is that?

[Maez]

They include a candy that not even Alien’s acid blood can dissolve. So your only option is to put it in your mouth and slowly suck it for a couple of hours. Guess what: it is really tasty!

http://www.olgagurkovska.com/mre/canadianmre30.jpg



We have here in Germany the same candies, called: Storck (http://www.storck.com/de/brand/campino/) Campino.

[skunker]

Looks good!

While I have not been to Asia or a large part of Europe, I can say so far that I've never had a better breakfast than from Canada. I spent many weeks in Alberta and other parts of British Columbia and never had a bad breakfast.

Here's to my Canadian friends!

[miguelencanarias]

Glad you liked them, but trust me when I say that you can get pretty sick of eating them when you have to do it 3 meals a day, day after day for weeks. ;)

Of course I believe you. I am thinking now of that guy who made that movie, 'Supersize me', eating Mc Donalds thrice a day for 30 days. It almost killed him.


Also; here they are not called MREs, They are IMPs ( individual meal packs ).I know, but MRE is an acronym everybody understands, so I took a small licence with that one.

[metalgolem]

Since my service in the reserves, it looks like some of the menu has been upgraded.

It was all pretty good then and I imagine it's all good now.

By the way, ananas is French for pineapple.

[GammaDriver]

Of course I believe you. I am thinking now of that guy who made that movie, 'Supersize me', eating Mc Donalds thrice a day for 30 days. It almost killed him.


Right after 9/11 my brother's reserve company got activated and placed in the middle of nowhere, inside the US, to guard against Al-Queda attacks deep in the forrested hills. They were out there for a year.

I didn't realize the Army had actually put him in harm's way until a month ago when I asked him about two yellowish spots just under his eyes near his nose. He had 'em checked out and found that the diet they were being fed on was so high in cholesterol that he developed permanent (?!) cholesterol deposits on his face. That sounds like pretty high cholesterol.

These meals weren't MRE's, but yes, the food can kill you.

[Resurrection]

Right after 9/11 my brother's reserve company got activated and placed in the middle of nowhere, inside the US, to guard against Al-Queda attacks deep in the forrested hills. They were out there for a year.

I didn't realize the Army had actually put him in harm's way until a month ago when I asked him about two yellowish spots just under his eyes near his nose. He had 'em checked out and found that the diet they were being fed on was so high in cholesterol that he developed permanent (?!) cholesterol deposits on his face. That sounds like pretty high cholesterol.

These meals weren't MRE's, but yes, the food can kill you.
Damn... how much weight did he gain from eating that stuff?

[GammaDriver]

That's just it - I don't remember him gaining weight. I'll ask him if the other guys did, and/or if the others developed the spots.

He did tell me they complained about the quality of the food the whole time they were there, but nothing was ever changed.

[rjbhutton]

When I was in the Army cadets (1982-1986), in Britain, we got old British Army compo rations... probably from the 1940s-1950s (as most of our equipment was from then!!). Most of it was in cans. I am trying to remember what the different meals were, here is my best recollection, but I would be interested to have my memory jogged by anyone else who remembers what nasties were included!!

Canned Food: Processed cheese; processed sausage meat (for breakfast); some sort of corn beef hash; apple pie (including a gooey outer "shell" of pastry, and apple sauce filling); chicken curry; ... I can't think of the other main meals.

Also, included: hexmaine folding stove and fuel; ketchup and HP sauce ( I think); Mars bars; boiled sweets; toilet paper, chiclets gum; can opener, "hard tack" biscuits; garibaldi biscuits (the best!); oatmeal bar...

Can anyone remember other tasty canned foods from the compo rations?

While I'm at it.. I remember eating "Raven Rations" (dehydrated) for three months on an expedition in South America. Four different menu options for three months! All I can remember from those was the veggy curry. Anyone else know Raven Rations? can you help me remember the menu (c.1988)

Rob

[Kingswat]

I am thinking now of that guy who made that movie, 'Supersize me', eating Mc Donalds thrice a day for 30 days. It almost killed him.



and i ate a big mac combo and a 2nd big mac 1 meal a day for 2 weeks and my bad cholesterol was nowhere to be found when i went for blood work, and my good cholesterol was at a normal level despite the fact i did no exercise for a month. I gained 0 lbs and lost 4 lbs. and my Dr. was almost in tears when he called me to tell me there was nothing wrong because he was laughing so hard. Every person is different and my next goal will be McD's 3 meals a day for 2 weeks to see what happens.

[Johnny_H02]

MP's are awsome, back when I was in Sea Cadets we used to go on survival weekends and all we had was IMP's.

Dude if you think IMP's are good?
Have you tried the Military Issued "boxed Lunches" those are so damn good and they come with fresh fruit, and a Joe Louis!

http://www.vachon.com/produits.php?lg=en

Wooooot 3000 posts

what better then to be talkin about food for my 3k post ( since there is no babes thread )
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/8615/spaceball0ws.gif

[Daniel San]

A guy from Ontario, Canada, decided last summer he'd eat IMPs for 30 days, a bit like supersize me. Needless to say, he survived but was a bit fed up with them: http://rationman.blogspot.com/

On an other website, you'll find info on French, Russian, German, Dutch, American, British and Canadian ration packs. If you search the forum you'll find info on Australian, Brazilian, Chinese et al. www.mreinfo.com

[Yeoman]

I'd rather have MRE's then IMP's.
just for the simple fact that their heater packs actually freakin work! but their meals, bread in my mind are far superior (ie, any cf memeber that had to eat IMP's for more then a weekend, would agree that it clogs up the body for a long time)
though I get to laugh at my room mate, that's the only thing he'll be eating in the next couple of months. ha
Greg

[skunker]

and i ate a big mac combo and a 2nd big mac 1 meal a day for 2 weeks and my bad cholesterol was nowhere to be found when i went for blood work, and my good cholesterol was at a normal level despite the fact i did no exercise for a month. I gained 0 lbs and lost 4 lbs. and my Dr. was almost in tears when he called me to tell me there was nothing wrong because he was laughing so hard. Every person is different and my next goal will be McD's 3 meals a day for 2 weeks to see what happens.\


It's all about calories in and out.

[Bzzliteyr]

Just to let you all know.. a proper quartermaster will issue out the same small bag heaters that come with the US MREs if you ask for them. No longer a problem cooking them in the field.. On the tanks we never have any problems anyhow.. always well fed!!

[guest]

I'd rather have MRE's then IMP's.
just for the simple fact that their heater packs actually freakin work! but their meals, bread in my mind are far superior (ie, any cf memeber that had to eat IMP's for more then a weekend, would agree that it clogs up the body for a long time)
though I get to laugh at my room mate, that's the only thing he'll be eating in the next couple of months. ha
Greg


I look foward to a bit of "clogging up" on Ex.. in the winter..

The less I go, the better.

(of course, when I get home.. I destroy my bathroom... ;)

Heat packs do suck though.. the dutch have some good ones.

The worst rations? Has to be the Romainian ones.

I don't know how those poor bastards live on that stuff.. it's almost depressing.

Of course, that goes for thier weapons, BDRMs (these things are falling apart.. not much better than the ANA ones)

They are great guys.. but are hurting equipment wise.

I digress..

[guest]

Just to let you all know.. a proper quartermaster will issue out the same small bag heaters that come with the US MREs if you ask for them. No longer a problem cooking them in the field.. On the tanks we never have any problems anyhow.. always well fed!!


Thats cause Tankers never do anything. lol ;)

[kerfuffled]

Beans and Weiners are the whip!woot

[kutter]

I remember eating a breakfast IMP (Potatoes and Ham and believe) a few years ago and it wasn't too bad. I found the sauce for the main course a bit on the watery side but but the fruit salad was quite fresh. The bread you had to dip sauce because it was so dense you litterally had to choke it down.

The older IMPs aren't much different from current ones from the looks of it except instead of one Campino it use to come with a role of three Lifesavers.

[pAt]

Thats cause Tankers never do anything. lol ;)

that and they have there own cooking unit inside the vehicle ;)

[Field_Gunner]

am I the only person that liked the ham-steak....the worst thing ever put into IMP's was the salmon.

as for our heater bags the US army sold us TONS of crap heater bags and our government knew it the first year or two we had them they worked great then it started to take 30 mins to heat up a goddamn meal but because we bought so many **** heaters we cant use good ones till they are all gone.

I like the MRE's kind of a mix between a kids meal and italian food

[DANJANOU]

Ah yes eating IMPs for more than aweek now there's a memory that needs surpressing again. Mind somewhat of an improvment over IRPs, if only in the weight factor.

Anyhow as someone brought up Supersize Me Check this poor moron out

Rationman:
http://rationman.blogspot.com/2005/08/day-1-let-freedom-reign.html

[orso]

I think the IMP packs are really good, When I was in the Militia in the late 80s the Imp was still kind of new. I remeber the fruit was always tasty and breakfasts were all good.The only one that seemed to make me sick was the turkey chunks and gravey, now that was nasty.

[I_hate_posers]

Gammadriver, what unit is your brother with? That sound's like a far fetched story. I didn't know we had secret squirl reserve units.

[Field_Gunner]

anyone ever have the CF snack packs those were good they gavem to us to eat in the OP's

[GammaDriver]

Gammadriver, what unit is your brother with? That sound's like a far fetched story. I didn't know we had secret squirl reserve units.

Live with it - too many people tell too much on these forums, and while it may or may not be secret, it wasn't integral to the story. You didn't need to know, and you still don't know.
They're a reserve MP unit. It's not that they're secret, but the place is secluded and since I'm pretty sure terrorists never thought of attacking it, I'm not going to go advertising the base, or what it exists for, here.

In as far as a setting, they couldn't have had a more peaceful place to guard. Locally, the fishing was pretty good, too.

Or was it the cholesterol deposits you don't believe?

[Royal]

Do the IMPs still have tubes of honey and condensed milk and chocolate mousse in a bag?

[Roldwin]

What's the slang word for your MRE's ??

Here in Spain, we call them Ladrillos or Tochos (Bricks)

[ArmedPacifist]

The lunch IMP comes with a candy bar.

I can't remember what meal it was, but the dessert was "Baked Chocolate Dessert", it was basically a huge chocolate covered brownie, delicious.


I remember someone saying that we were the best fed troops in all of NATO.

[chassem]

I'd rather have MRE's then IMP's.
just for the simple fact that their heater packs actually freakin work! but their meals, bread in my mind are far superior (ie, any cf memeber that had to eat IMP's for more then a weekend, would agree that it clogs up the body for a long time)
though I get to laugh at my room mate, that's the only thing he'll be eating in the next couple of months. ha
Greg


Actually I think the IMPs are a mild laxative cause after day two I can't keep anything in!

[chassem]

I remember someone saying that we were the best fed troops in all of NATO.

Yep, and the fatness of basically anyone but combat arms proves it.

I have to admit though the best food I ever ate was on deployment, helps the morale out quite a bit.

[Yeoman]

The lunch IMP comes with a candy bar.

I can't remember what meal it was, but the dessert was "Baked Chocolate Dessert", it was basically a huge chocolate covered brownie, delicious.


I remember someone saying that we were the best fed troops in all of NATO.

I remember seeing a guy eating one once going "oh man it's so sweet and horrible for my body, but I must eat it all!"
what about the freeze? (aka the cherry pie). I dunno but there's just something about the IMP's that I can't eat them, MRE's I've got no problems eating though.
though I love our spaghetti and meatballs, that one knocks the crap out of the yank verison.
Greg

[Vostok]

Do the IMPs still have tubes of honey and condensed milk and chocolate mousse in a bag?

I had to help clean out our storage room, that had about 20 boxes of rations that expired in '95, and we were ripping them open to see what was inside and they had the little tubes of peanut butter and honey, but I never saw any chocolate mousse or condensed milk.

Worst IMP's definitly are the Salmon and Omlette w/ salsa (lung in a bag) I had to eat it cold a few times when we had to get going really quick and didn't really have time to stop to set up the stove.

[Roy Batty]

Yep, and the fatness of basically anyone but combat arms proves it.

I have to admit though the best food I ever ate was on deployment, helps the morale out quite a bit.


Sadley I have just lately seen some pretty fat combat arms troops so watch where you point that twinkie...lol

[Canuck Farrier]

Sadley I have just lately seen some pretty fat combat arms troops so watch where you point that twinkie...lol

Is there any sort of regular fitness testing?

[GammaDriver]

Damn... how much weight did he gain from eating that stuff?

Just talked to him online - he said some of the other guys were having problems with cholesterol, and it very well could have been the food (apparently it was obvious the food wasn't healthy - I'm guessing fried foods, mostly), but the doctors he's seen say they're really not sure.

Seems the cholesterol deposits might come from a high cholesterol diet, but they can be placed on the skin by other problems. I do know the local lakes are high in PCB's from past mis-use, but I doubt that was the problem. The whole ara might be contaminated with old military chemicals for all I know.

But back to the issue - he just said he was in the bast shape of his life, as, besides guard duties, all they had to do was lift weights, play paintball, and jog around.

I guess this goes to show that just because a soldier looks like he's in top physical form doesn't mean that he really is.

[Canuck Farrier]

Paintballing right on I went paintballing yesterday at Georgina Paintball club,I can never get bored of it.woot

[chassem]

Sadley I have just lately seen some pretty fat combat arms troops so watch where you point that twinkie...lol

I'll admit that pork-bellies are a problem forces-wide. I really should have said everyone but the infantry, but I generalized.

Fattest guys are easily the jimmies! :P

[peio2]

Hi, friends !
I'm from Bulgaria
I have to share my experience in Bulgarian Army and Bulgarian Millitary kitchen.
In the far 1990, wen I was young soldier, food like top-descriptied maybe was a feast...
Radically we to live on the STARVATION line.
I'll show you one "delicacy" : This is the "Pig-boiled"... Little-ground pig-meat in of one's own sauce...

http://www.market.bg/pictures/000/000/000/001/1668.file

Sometimes this food was outdated, and they have years like our fathers... :oops:
Have good appetite !

[ruspecnaz]

I had it yesterday, really hard to eat that without plates etc, and food quality was 3\5.

[Housil]

I also spend a couple of month to display all the Military Food Rations I have collected AND eaten...
The fully report of my German, US, Canadian, UK, Italian, Spain, Russian, Netherlands, French etc. Rations you can read and see pictures here:

http://www.landroverforum.de/board/thread.php?threadid=14465&threadview=0&hilight=&hilightuser=0&page=1

As I wrote it in German for that Geman Military Vehicle Forum I can give you a translation, explanaition also or can also display pictures and descrition on request here.

See just one side of my basement...
http://jeep.cfasp.de/upload/145939.jpg

[welshmann]

holy ****,u getting stocked up for somthing:P,dont see it anymore but with the brits the worst scoff was fruit dumplings in butterscotch sauce,....great thread.

[ex1cdo]

I know, but MRE is an acronym everybody understands, so I took a small licence with that one.
Meals Rejected by Ethiopians? p-)

[Housil]

holy ****,u getting stocked up for somthing:P,dont see it anymore but with the brits the worst scoff was fruit dumplings in butterscotch sauce,....great thread.

Thx for the flowers... :oops:
I doesn´t want to hurt your feelings, but I wrote about the UK Rations:

"...UK is for many things famous. Their food doesn´t belongs to it..."
"...If you have ever eaten in UK, you will know why they prefer to drink..." rofl


The soup tasts for melted chicken bones.
The crackers are OK, the cacao drink, the ricepudding also.
The chocolate is one of the best I ever eat (in MIL rations)
I also have these UK 10/24 Raions "in stock":
http://jeep.cfasp.de/upload/146147.jpg

[DE_Six]

I'm glad you liked the bread. In my memories, it was dry and tasted like sawdust. p-)

[Housil]

I'm glad you liked the bread. In my memories, it was dry and tasted like sawdust. p-)

As I had never eaten sawdust...
But what bread?! Still talking about the UK rations? There is no bread inside. Or do you mean the crackers?
The german EPA´s are having real full grain bread in a tin, the MRE´s are having sometimes wheat bread and pastry inside. The canadians IMP having a bread similar to the US MRE´s. This one tastes a little bit "strange"...
I´m sorry...

[oldsoak]

Never mind all that - wheres the brew kit ? :-)

[Canuck Farrier]

I'm glad you liked the bread. In my memories, it was dry and tasted like sawdust. p-)

for the canadian IMP bread we used to put the packaged bread in boiling water after we heated up our main course,it seemed to moisten the bread up.

[DE_Six]

for the canadian IMP bread we used to put the packaged bread in boiling water after we heated up our main course,it seemed to moisten the bread up.

I think that was the way it was supposed to be eaten, rehydrated, but who has never had to eat it straight out of the package? :)

[Ericsson]

I,m sure the Canadian stranded in Lebanon
would love to have a couple of does meals
while Peter-pan mackay and the pastry boy Stockwell Day
and let's not forget Stephen Harper.are lying through there teeth
and telling everybody that they have responded faster then anybody else
some Canadian had to call the embassy of the Netherlands
for help and got saves by the Navy of that country also the Italian navy saves several Canadians ..man !! I,m sure Harper plays whit himself in front of the American flag

[Daniel San]

I,m sure the Canadian stranded in Lebanon
would love to have a couple of does meals
while Peter-pan mackay and the pastry boy Stockwell Day
and let's not forget Stephen Harper.are lying through there teeth
and telling everybody that they have responded faster then anybody else
some Canadian had to call the embassy of the Netherlands
for help and got saves by the Navy of that country also the Italian navy saves several Canadians ..man !! I,m sure Harper plays whit himself in front of the American flag

I do not have any contacts in the Foreign affairs office nor in the military. But there are over 50 000 Canadians in that area. You can't evacuate that number of people with a flick of a wrist. I do not know if you have family or friends in the area, if so I wish them well and I hope they will get to safety very soon but your post on a thread devoted to military rations is completely tangential to the topic and a clear invitation to more flaming.

What is your opinion on the diverse content of canadian ration packs? Is it sufficient? Does the food look good?

If you wan't to start a thread on Canada's response to the recent crisis in the middle east, start one, but this is a thread on IMPs.

[Housil]

Thx mate...