REVIEW: MRE STAR Meal, Ready-to-Eat

Ready-made food in the army, especially MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat), are extremely popular among people of all ages. Why is that? No warm meal is faster and easier to prepare than these energy packages. In addition, they are complete sets that include not only the main course but also small delicacies, drink powder, utensils, and even a cooker. However, original MREs from army stocks are not easily obtained, as it takes a few good sources or connections to get them if you don't want to buy expired goods. Furthermore, according to the German food regulations, a labeling is required, which the US Army MREs do not have - so they are always sold as decorative items. MRE STAR offers an official alternative - internationally. We have tried three different dishes and want to share our impressions with you.

MRE STAR based in the USA was initially unknown to us. A brief internet search revealed that MRE STAR is a military-authorized manufacturer of ready-made food, with their commercially available MREs only slightly differing from the originals. For example, you won't find chewing gum or sauces with MRE STAR and that's about it. Some background information: the officially supplied MREs come from the company Ameriqual.

But now to the content. In an MRE STAR MRE, you will find the following individually packaged components:

• Main course (vegetarian chili, cheese tortellini, marinara noodles)
• Power Drink Mix - Lemon-flavored drink powder
• Sugar cookies - four pieces
• Dried fruits
• Peanut-raisin mix
• MRE Heater for cooking
• Accessory Pack - Instant coffee, sugar, salt, pepper, spoon, napkin

This content provides approximately 1100-1300 calories, hopefully providing enough energy for a whole day. The MREs are housed in a sturdy, light- and waterproof packaging that has an ingredient description attached to the back. Here's a little bonus: the complete content is listed in German as well as in English, which makes it easier, especially for allergies and intolerances. The importer listed for the MRE STAR dishes is MFH (Max Fuchs AG). The indicated shelf life is around 5 years. The MREs we tested have a minimum shelf life until 12/2020 on the label, so it roughly matches.

There isn't much to say about the accessories; salt, pepper, sugar, and napkins are known to everyone, the coffee is as good as instant coffee can be, and the spoon is sturdy enough for our needs.

As a side dish, all MRE STAR MREs contain three packets:

Peanut-raisin mix - 56 grams

Sunflower seeds, raisins, peanuts, almonds, seasoned with salt. The typical student mix - good for you and tasty.

Dried fruits - 56 grams

Bananas, papaya, and pineapple, palm oil, and tartrazine (food coloring).

The dried fruits don't taste particularly good, but they are still edible.

Sugar cookies - 56 grams / Four pieces

Wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil (soy, palm oil, and palm kernel oil), salt, baking powder, flavors, soy lecithin.

The cookies provide an energy boost thanks to the sugar and are very tasty.

Power Drink Mix - Lemonade - 25 grams

Sugar, citric acid, sodium citrate, starch, dextrin, coconut oil, flavors, tartrazine, and the synthetic vitamin C ascorbic acid.

According to studies, ascorbic acid endangers heart health, can damage DNA, and increase iron levels. Ascorbic acid is present in many foods and should be consumed with caution.

The powder should be dissolved in 350ml of water, but also tastes good with 500ml of water.

Main course

The main courses we tried have a net weight of approximately 227 grams and are heated with the included Heater.

For those who don't know how a Heater works, here's a quick explanation:

Tear open the top of the bag

Remove the main course from the cardboard packaging and place it with the plastic packaging into the bag

Pour water up to the lower mark (60ml)

Loosely close the bag and put it back into the cardboard packaging

Place the packaging or bag at an angle and let it sit for 15 minutes

Remove the meal, tear it open, and enjoy

The three dishes, vegetarian chili, cheese tortellini, and marinara noodles, were all good - we liked the cheese tortellini the best. You can eat directly from the bag, saving you the need for dishes, as the spoon is included in the MRE.

Finally, here are the advantages and disadvantages of MREs compared to conventional ready-made meals such as Travel Lunch:

Advantages

• Robust, waterproof packaging
• Complete kit, no need for anything else other than water
• Low heat signature, no open flame needed for cooking
• Can be "stripped" if certain parts are not wanted
• Long shelf life
• Low energy consumption for preparation
• Quick cooking time

Disadvantages

• Environmentally damaging
• Higher price due to import

CONCLUSION:

The MRE STAR MREs are good ready-made products that require little water for cooking and actually taste good, even if the dishes don't look particularly appetizing (but that's usually the case with ready-made meals). Due to the official sale compared to the original MREs, they are a bit more expensive, but offer very good and consistent availability. The content and packaging of the MRE STAR dishes hardly differ from the officially supplied MRE - making them an ideal product for emergencies, camping, in the car, or anywhere where you don't have the means to cook properly.

The MRE STAR dishes are available at ASMC, where you can also find the complete ingredient lists as a downloadable PDF - which we find very good - as you can decide before purchasing whether you want to buy the package or not.

The price per dish ranges from 10.99€ to 13.99€ - which is not cheap, but justified by the import. Official MREs with a current production year and labeled as decorative items cost around 12€ on eBay, where you don't have the security that MRE STAR provides.