After getting the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had at the Army chow hall in Baghdad, I did a thorough evaluation of what good food supplies could be sent from home. I too found the tuna in a bag, along with chicken in a bag, and shrimp in a bag. I also found several ready made pouches of rice from Rice-a-roni, Uncle Bens, and Zatarains. I also found a number of ready made soup pouches from Bear Creek. All of these were heat and serve, capable of being eaten as is right out of the bag, or being nuked in a microwave or in a pot of hot water in the container before being eaten. All of them withstood vigorous shipping and handling conditions and all of them produced relatively pallatable meals. I also got a number of freeze dried backpack meals, and was issued nearly a case of MREs. While the soups were mostly water and therefore a load to carry, they were quite convenient and substantial enough to satisfy me as a meal. All of the containers were very durable, and withstood boiling temperatures quite well. Unlike the tuna/chicken/fish and freeze dried foil pouches, the soups and the rice were in HD poly bags. For extended storage, they may be prone to some gaseous infiltration, but in the 8 months I had mine, none of them ever exhibited any failures.

Were I interested in constructing my own MREs, I have no doubt I could find suitable components. The re-packaging would like be in a more rigid, shockproof container, but the results would be similar.

I've also found sources of freeze dried eggs in mylar pouches, and TVP products. The TVP stuff is so hardy, I keep it in plastic cannisters with screw on lids that I retrieve product from. So long as I don't let it get wet, it doesn't seem to change much over the course of a year. Even fresh, though, it is a poor substitute for real meat. The best of it I've found so far is the fake taco meat ones. Of course, it is an excellent additive to other dishes where the taste and texture are more determined by the other ingredients.