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.