I started looking for emergency food bars for my car -- that is, something that can be stored for a long time even in hot weather, compact, and easy to consume (no cooking, heating, or preparation). After reading some online reviews from survival forums and vendors, I decided to try SOS Emergency Food Bar. People seem to like how it tastes. I don't have high expectations, but it has to be palatable and not make me sick. An emergency that forces you to eat a brick of food is stressful enough. You don't want to get an upset stomach on top of that. There is no way to find out except by testing! So I ordered a brick online for a little over $8.

This is what the food bars look like:


There are eight bars per brick. Each bar packs 400 calories.

A common complaint seems to be that the individual food bars are not wrapped very securely. While none of my bars were found to be flagrantly open, some light handling resulted in this:


I'm guessing this is not a big problem if you find yourself in an actual emergency. You'd either finish all the bars during the emergency, or if you have leftovers when the emergency is over, you'd probably throw them away and eat real food.

So how does it taste? It's quite pleasant for emergency ration. It tastes like a coconutty shortcake, and it definitely looks like it, too, if you break off a piece:



It's slightly sweet, and not thirst-provoking. You might be able to pass it off as dessert. So I'm pleased with the taste.

Six hours later, my stomach is still not protesting. I don't know whether my digestive system would be happy after three days on this stuff, but I am hoping not to find out.

i tried a different brand last year and my problem was the wrapping of each bar was to tight and required a lot of fiddeling. That is me in normal working mode, not shaky from too little sugars. So a loose wrap might not be a bad thing.

Thanks for the useful review. I had the same concern over the dubious packaging, so I wrapped mine in a layer of aluminum foil and bubble wrap (for a little extra physical and thermal protection) and then into an outer wrap of vacuum-sealed pouch. I've done about the same for additional, less long-term emergency rations of pilot biscuits, peanut butter, raisins, dried soup, instant coffee & tea. Those went into an old, thick-walled styrofoam container. My lifeboat rations and some Gatorade powder in a Nalgene bottle are in my BOB, which is in my car trunk. I also made sure to write the expiration dates on the outside of all the vacuum pouches and on a piece of tape on the Nalgene bottle.

I've seen something similar at WalMart.

"Similar" is not "Same as." Numerous brands look similar, not all are as "tasty" as the SOS brand. SOS is my preferred brand, I'll use Datrex in a pinch.

Dunno about instore but online they have "Camillus 3-Day Emergency Food Supply " and according to internet there is a good chance they might be SOS bars

I looked at the link, and I didn't see any evidence that Camillus is repackaged SOS. I even clicked on the link within the link. Am I missing something?

The price difference is only three dollars. If you're preparing for ten people, it makes a difference on your budget, but for one person who's already tested and found SOS acceptable...

No, I was wrong, I completely misread that ... although they have listed online "S.O.S.-Survival-Food-Bars-3600-Calories/33697786" but with a datrex picture ...
mind plays tricks on me

Speaking of price difference, buying direct from sosfoodbars dot com seems to be the cheapest way to buy these ...

Personally I like the Datrex better than everything else I've tried. It's kind of embarrassing how much I like them given that I'm a chef! Like most of those types of rations they're not very good for you/healthy for long term use nor are they intended to be- they're survival food. But if they weren't so carby I could eat a block of them every day.

Apropos of nothing, last week while I was shopping at Wally World I noticed they had the Bridgeford MRE/survival sandwiches in stock (the BBQ beef ones). Another item that's not super healthy, similar to fast food nutritionally. But I figured one couldn't kill me so I got a package to try. IIRC the shelf life is around 3-5 years depending on the storage conditions. They're quite a bit of bread and not a ton of filling but they're really not bad, akin to something you'd get at a gas station or truck stop refrigerator case. You can heat them or eat them cold; I ate them cold since that's what I'd do in a pinch. They'd probably be much better warmed up.

They're not in quite the same category as lifeboat rations that will keep in any conditions for several years, but they might be a good option for something more like actual food.