MRE Date Codes

There are two different date codes associated with most MREs Meals Ready to Eat. When you are looking to purchase MREs, especially second hand MREs, it is important to fully understand what these dates mean.

The two dates are the Packed Date and the Inspection Date.

The Packed Date is simply the date that the MRE or MRE component was packaged. Each individual MRE item will have its own packed date, sometimes stamped in the familiar mm/dd/yy method, but usually stamped in a 4-digit code.

The code will resemble something like this : 4021

The “4” is the last digit of the year, so with a fresh MRE it would indicate 2004. The last 3-digits of the code is the actual day, up to 365, of the year 2004.

So for this example, this MRE component was packed on January 21, 2004.

The exterior of the full meal MRE bags are also stamped in this method, provided the MRE was packaged in 2003 or later. Before that, there was no stamp on the exterior of the meal.

The Inspection Date, usually printed on cases, is a date 3 years after the packed date. The MREs are considered good until this date, and will continue to be good for a full 10 years assuming they were properly packaged.

Finding a reliable seller is critical when purchasing MREs. You want to make sure the seller is complying with the correct storage requirements to keep your MREs good. It's also important to buy fresh MREs.

There are no expiration dates on MREs. The shelf life of an MRE is anywhere between 3-10 years, again, depending on storage.