US vs UK Military MREs | Food Wars | Insider Food

From calorie count to portion sizes, we wanted to find all the differences between MREs (Meal Ready to Eat) and ration packs for the armed forces in the US and UK. This is "Food Wars."

0:00 - Introduction
08:00 - Portion Sizes
29:09 - Nutrition
31:27 - Ingredients
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#MRE #FoodWars #InsiderFood

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US vs UK Military MREs | Food Wars | Insider Food

[quillnsofa]

The biggest thing is they are comparing a 24 hour (British) ration to a single meal ration (US). So weight and calorie counts will be different.

[simondodd]

Pro tips from a British army soldier:
- Always bring your own seasoning, salt is the bare minimum
- Mix hot chocolate powder into the muesli, it SLAPS
- Nobody has time to make the energy drinks, just eat the powder straight
- Biscuit browns are genuinely designed to prevent you from needing to use a toilet, so tread carefully Harry

[sgh]

Disappointed at the lack of "Alright, lets get this out on to a NICE!" MRE Steve needs to give you a tutorial on how to eat MREs

[evilproducer]

I work for the company that makes some of the cheese spreads for the US MREs. I’m kind of bummed they didn’t try any. The Jalapeño spread is very popular among our service people from what I understand.

[krazykat]

When I was in the Marine Corps I did an exchange program with the British army in the early 90’s and at the time enjoyed their rations more than ours. A really big difference was they also tended to get hot meals from a field kitchen far more often than we did, which was darn near never. Getting eggs to order once in a while was way more enjoyable than the occasional green powdered eggs in a vat can they’d shuttle out to us Marines in the field once in a blue moon. Fresh food is a real morale booster.

[rayne]

im retired British Army and im glad the ration packs have evolved over the years. when i joined up at 16 the rations came in a box ether 24 hour or ten man rations where everything came in a tin and it all had to be cooked, we had weird usually green cheese and milk chocolate bar that was usually white in places. biscuit brown which would bung you up for a day and biscuit fruits. now the guys and girls get a much wider choice.

[whoiamiamnot]

I'm retired US Army, retired in 2013. I've been waiting for this video. It's always strange seeing the menu changes. Like there was a Sloppy Joe MRE I used to love. It came with off brand Cheese Its. I also loved the tuna and there was a chicken fajitas I was found of. Also there used to be a beef patty, pork patty and veggie patty. Everyone preferred the veggie patty. The beef and pork did not taste like real meat. There used to be an "omelet" MRE which guys would basically fight to not get. As you can imagine it was godawful. And you'd end up only eating the side items.

As others have stated there's general no breakfast specific MRE. Generally during field exercises or training we'd be giving two to three MRE's and it was up to us to decide what to eat. That said there are some "breakfast" MRE's but they seem to be exclusive to the cold weather MRE's, they come in a white bag. I was stationed in north Alaska and only ever saw them there. They include a few omelet options and oatmeal and etc. Google "cold weather MRE" to get an ideal. The fruit and applesauce options are more so a desert then for breakfast. An MRE generally included either either cake, cookie, or fruit.
When I was in for our MRE's the coffee was Folgers or just no brand. The candy generally didn't come in the on shelf brand packaging. It was just in the brown basic packaging. But it was definitely skittles or M&M's or Resees pieces and etc.
Oh on the high sodium levels. As a soldier you sweat a lot. I'm talking cloths always stained from the salt sweats as I called them. So the Army purposely makes the MRE's with enough sodium to replace what you're loosing.
On the shelf life. I remember around 2006 getting a MRE from like 1991. It was edible. Not great but when you're tired and hungry 🤷🏾‍♂️.
All that said I'm one of those weirdos who actually kinda enjoys MRE's. I buy a case from the Army surplus store like once a year. Take them camping and hiking. Every year on my enlistment anniversary I'll "treat" myself to a MRE. I also love making my kids and nieces and nephews and etc eat them. 😂

[Pigeoning]

Steve1989 would have been a great guest host.

[christinamendrinos]

A couple of points—the flak jackets had a pouch on inside that would fit a mre pouch. Put the pouch in and it would be warm by the time to eat.
The heating bags were also useful for putting in a sleeping bag to heat it up.
The “gatorade” mix is due to a change of training. Vietnam veterans have told me that they would go on training marches and would have to have half-full canteen at the end. This taught water discipline. Now water is less restricted but electrolytes need to be replaced. Hence the extra sugar and sodium in the rations.

[kadensullivan]

As a US Army Joe, these are single meal rations. You're supposed to get at minimum 2 a day but my unit issues 3. There is no designated breakfast except for like a few menus but I can't even remember the last time I saw one. I make friends with our supply guys to get Menus I like and then on the resupply days I make sure I'm the first to the box so I can take what sounds good. Also, I've kind of remembered what comes in each MRE per what year production it is bc they usually changed sides and snacks every once and a while. All the texmex options are super solid, love beef stew, Chicken with vegetables in sauce is good when heated, and pizza is a terrible option bc the main is mid but it is has terrible snacks n sides.

[ohmygodsteve]

Oh dang you can tell they really running out of brands to do 😭😭

[ramonashearer]

My husband is retired US Air Force. Back in the 90s he had like a 5 day drill. He ate MREs they whole time. He stunk to high heaven from all of the preservatives. He did bring home freeze dried ice cream, fruit and other stuff for the kids to try. He has the advantage that he worked on generators and other equipment. They would heat their meals up on the engines. I still have tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce and little salt and peppers from MRE's. Not sure if after almost 30 years of they would still be good.

[pprey]

We in the British Army in Germany, in the early 70´s, got composite rations, 0ne box filled with almost all cans was enough for 10 men for one day or vice versa. Some included chocolate and sweets but they all contained the famous "Cheese Processed", that came with an imprint of the lid on the cheese, commonly called " Cheese Possessed" for good reason. The ones we were issued in 1970 - 73 typically were made in 1955 -57.

[Terrelli]

The Food Wars video I didn’t know I needed. I LOVE MRE reviews! Excited to see what y’all think. My money’s on Joe getting nauseous and Harry refusing to eat at least one item on principle.

[thebigdustin]

Without Steve, I don’t know if we can even trust this comparison.

[delphy]

you mentioned a lot of sodium in the USA MRE's. that makes sense to me, because a soldier in the field is probably sweating a LOT and legitimately needs more sodium in their diet than a regular civilian in day to day life. i could be wrong but it made sense to me.
i also want to point out that 'daily recommended intake' is going to wildly different for an active soldier in the field vs an average civilian

[lewilewis]

Gutted to see the Brit rations no longer contain the chocolate sponge and custard. It was lush hot or cold. Most guys also supplemented their rations with a bottle of tabasco sauce. Another thing...a squad would make a brew up of builders tea (strong, sweet and dosed with lots of milk powder) and it had to contain cigarette ash, an army tradition.

[kwillee]

I like the menu offerings of the British rations and the fact that there are distinct breakfast options that aren’t just side suggestions

[sweet_sophie_]

Literally these guys make my day! Harry and Joe I hope you never run out of foods to compare you guys are awesome!!

[alyssapapke]

The UK packs seem to be 24hrs worth of food but the US MREs are single meals so the apple sauces or other fruity things are supposed to be eaten as a dessert. You would get separate MREs for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I've also tried a bunch of them because my stepdad was in the army and they are all better hot, he said they would only eat them cold if absolutely necessary 😅