Military rations are a little bit of a hobby with me, I've traded for and tried many. Overall the MRE's are pretty good. When they first came out they were nowhere near as good as they are now. There was a problem with both the taste and amount of food. At this point there are 24 or 26 varieties of meals and some are quite good. The "menu" is changed each year it seams, some items deleted and new ones added. Much of the bad reputation came from Gulf War 1, when soldiers ate the older MRE's that had been stock piled over there .for many years . Some troops ate nothing but old MRE's for many months.I like the enchilada and the chocolate covered oatmeal cookie. Fed the MRE rice to my family for dinner (with other regular food) and no one complained. The MRE could use lifeboat matches and water puri tabs like in the British rations.