Would there be any issue with storing MRE's in the deep freezer. It wouldn't seem like it to me, but my sister asked me and I want to be 100% before I give an answer. Best Answer: Q. How long do MREs last (i.e. What is the shelf life of an MRE)? A. MREs are designed to have a shelf life from three years (when stored at 80 degrees F) to over 10 years (when stored at 60 degrees F). Higher temperatures will decrease the MRE lifespan. Studies have taste-tested many MREs that were 10 to 15 years old and with the exception of some discoloration, they still tasted fine, had acceptable nutritional content and exhibited basic product safety characteristics. A regular rotation of MREs within 5 to 7 years is recommended. Freezing an MRE does not destroy the food inside, but repeated freezing increases the chances that the stretching and stressing of the pouch will cause a break of a layer of the laminated and may damage the food. These pouches are made to withstand 1,000 flexes, but repetitive freezing does increase the failure rate by a small fraction of a percent. Also, if MRE food is frozen, then thawed out, it must be used the same as if you had thawed commercial food from your own freezer or home.
Go for it, the colder you keep them, the longer they last. One word of caution though, take out the little bottle of Tobasco Sauce, they will expand and split the little bottle, this is my own experience.
Cool, thanks.... ya, I probably would've forgot the hot sauce! Just picked up some MRE's and some Mountain House freeze-dried stuff.
Freezing them should extend their shelf-life. However, when they are frozen, thier packaging gets brittle. Don't rough-hangle them before they thaw.
Personally, I wouldn't do it. MRE's are meant to be stored in a cool environment and freezing them could cause the items that have moisture to damage the packaging and ruin them. Also, why pay the expenditure of electricity to storethem in a freezer? Even if you store them in a deep freezer, you still need to rotate them every ten years regardless. If you do this, calculate out the cost per MRE for storing them in a freezer for ten years and post it for us. I personally would rather keep other things that are not storage stable in the freezer.
