Kaplods, LOL, my son and his friend have opened some of those MRE's here and they actually looked pretty darn good. I was astounded to see that each contains over 2000 calories. My son's father (who is a physician) orders MRE's by the case and when they take Boy's Trip each summer, that is all they eat. LOL, they don't know how to cook.

I really, really love the Turkey Chili with Beans JC meal. Any other Jenny Craigers tried that?

I'm glad I got these. I got about a month's supply, which'll save me the $80 or thereabouts I spend a month on Lean Cuisine/Healthy Choice/SmartOnes frozen meals.

I was just reading your post. I am not on Jenny Craig or anything but I read all the posts on the boards, to learn and to see what others are doing.

Anyway, one thing that came to my mind about the outdated JC meals was it's kind of scary if you think about it....what kind of preservatives do they use that make them last so long???????? And, is it really good for your body to eat that much of it??

I am mostly doing whole foods, fresh foods, fruits, veggies, soy burgers, etc. Very little processed stuff at all. I am enjoying it. Working on portion control, which is a biggie. But, at least if I eat too many baby carrots or watermelon, etc. it won't really hurt me as much as say, a bag of cookies! LOL

Good luck with your meals.

Kathy

That's cool that you will be saving money from the meals

I think I would call the customer service line because they can track the lot the meals came from and advise you about safety. I just wouldn't mention that they were free

I always wondered if those types of plans could accommodate people with food allergies or special diets (low sodium, vegan, vegetarian, celiac/gluten intolerant etc.). Anyone know?



Don't get me started on packaged foods! Aside from the chemicals and preservatives in the food iteself, there is the issue of the plastic and the chemicals from that leaching into the foods...

If they are self stable and not in a can then they were most likely irradiated. Personally I stay far away from anything that has been hit with radiation (if I can help it~they don't have to put that bit of info on the packaging), but then I don't microwave anything either. Call me crazy... I'm just a bit paranoid about stuff like that.

The technology behind these meals is over 200 years old, and really requires no preservatives at all except the canning process.

Here's a link that gives a little history

http://www.delmonte.com/news/cans1/body.htm

Very old canned foods have been found in historical digs, shipwrecks, old basements.... And if the seal is intact, even if the food was canned over 100 years ago, when it was tested, it has generally been found to be still technically edible (that is safe to eat, not necessarily tasty. ) The biggest health risk was if the cans contained or were sealed with lead solder.

I don't know how old the oldest canned food actually tasted was (or how it tasted), but the testing done as I understand it is lab tests checking for microbes and toxins.

Since 1986, all irradiated products must carry the international symbol called a radura, which resembles a stylized flower.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foo...y/irradiation/

Also, I believe the type of irradiation needed to actually make a product shelf-stable is still extremely rare. The last I heard, it was only used in some hospital applications such as in foods prepared for severely immune compromised patients.