MRE’s and #10 cans have a funny code on the bottom that’s called a Julian Code. It tells you when the food was packaged. It can be quite overwhelming looking over the numbers, so I  have provided you a Julian Day Calendar that will help you figure out what day of the year your food storage was packaged.  We do get a lot of questions like “Why don’t they just put an Expiration Date or Best Use By?”  and the reason behind that is it that it depends on your storage temperature. To achieve maximum shelf life, store in an environment with a temperature of 75-60°F or lower and humidity of 10% or less. But for those who lives in a hotter climate then the shelf life will not reflect properly and so their is no way to guarantee a set shelf life of the canned product so that is why they use a Julian Date instead of the Best Used By Date.

The image displayed is a stamp on a #10 can of Saratoga Farms, and depending on what items you purchase you will have a different style of Julian Date. If you don’t know how to decipher the code it would look like some random numbers that mean nothing regarding when it was packaged. Looking off the 1st image, the first 5 digits are the Julian Code as you can see circled above. The first two numbers will represent the year and the 3 following will represent the day of the year.

So this can was packaged in 2010 on 229th day of the year, now you see the additional numbers. That references the batch and is really only applicable if there’s a recall on the product.  To help you calculate the 229th day of the year I have included our Julian Day Calendar, below you will see the Days and Months of the year. By finding the number of the day you can determine exactly when the product was canned. When you see multiple numbers on the day it will show you if it is canned in a leap-year or not. (Second number is for leap-year). Leap-years will accrue every 4 years as an example: 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012.

For Saratoga Farms Meat & Egg products they are processed in an FDA approved facility. Since the product contains meats the date on the can is different then the 1st image. You will see below letters that represents the type of can that it is (ie Diced Chicken). After the CHK will state the packaged with the Julian date 11067 decoded is March 8th 2011.

Now the 3rd option will start out each row with a letter & I do like how it will provide you with a dash between the last batch reference number and then the Julian Date. This product was packaged on 11143 or  with the Julian date 11143 decoded is May 23rd 2011.

*** UPDATE for early 2011 products***

The Julian Date Stamp was not rolled over into the new year of 2011. Batches from Jan 1st to March 21st have exceeded the 365|366 date range on a Julian Date.

(Please View Example Bellow)

Date Stamp on the can above is 10418, since there are 365 days in a year you will have to “minus” 365 from what ever date is listed after the first two digits, for this example 418 and then that will give you the date of fabrication.

Using the graph above you can see that the 53rd day of the year would be February 22, 2011.  You will now be able to use the graph to figure out the date of your Freeze Dried or Dehydrated #10 can was fabricated on. Another easy way to find out the date of your #10 can is to use the list below.  We have provided you with a calculation time if your can has a greater date of 365.

We love it when a company comes up with the a new innovation that that can be applied to emergency situations.  We’re happy to introduce GOALØ into The Ready Store product family! GOALØ provides you with an amazing back up power source that is clean and easy to use! With an extremely durable and well tested product line, you have the assurance that you have a trusted source of power.

The great thing with GOALØ is that they have a product for any situation, the Sherpa 120 Battery and the Nomad 27M Solar Panel are ideal for Grab-n-Go™ and the Ranger 350 Battery and Boulder 30M Solar Panel are an incredible options for Shelter-in-Place™.

Since the introduction of this product on our site we’ve had many people call in with some common questions and so I thought we could address them in this post.

FAQ – What makes these Solar Panels so Great?

The Nomad 27M, the Boulder 30M and the Escape 30M give an immediate power source for USB and 12V  DC devices.  A large part of the population use cell phones. A cell phone could help in an emergency situation.  The ability to charge with a USB port makes the Nomad 27M Solar Panel, Boulder 30M Solar Panel, and Escape 30M Solar Panel a must have.

Not only are the Solar Panels great stand alone products, but you can connect multiple units together and the combined power will increase it’s ability to charge your battery.

FAQ – What makes the Inverters so Great?

With 50-Watt hours of PowerPack storage capacity you’ll have the power you need to run your small electrical appliances.  GOALØ inverters are rugged and weather resistant, designed to be lightweight and compact, the inverters come in sizes that can practically meet any need you have.  And just like the Solar Panels, the inverters can be connected together to give you increased power.  In an emergency, you’ll have an amazing network that can power most house hold items.

FAQ - Can an Inverter power my refrigerator?

Presently GOALØ does not have an inverter that can power the average home refrigerator, but for those who have an RV refrigerator it can handle a unit that small.

FAQ - Do I have to use the solar panel to charge the battery?

No, with having a 12v input and output you can plug your battery into any house hold outlet. So what that boils down to is you will always have a charged battery and so when the power does go out and if it is night time you don’t have to stress about having no sunlight.

FAQ – What will the battery power?

FAQ - How long does it take to charge?

This is a great line of products, but you definitely don’t have to take my word for it!  Do some research and go onto YouTube, search for GOALØ and watch the videos of different people that have used this item and you’ll find that I’m not the only one who’s excited about GOALØ.

Alright by raise of hands whose ever been pulled over for speeding?  And those of you who are raising your hand, after having been pulled over, since that time, have you ever gone over the speed limit?

I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here by saying that getting pulled over for speeding hasn’t stopped most people from speeding.  It may cause some to slow down for a little while, but eventually we go back to our speeding ways.  Why do we do this?

If the speed LIMIT is 50mph, most people will go AT LEAST 50mph, most will go 55mph and some will push 60mph or more.  Somewhere in the human psyche we all find ourselves telling ourselves, “This rule doesn’t apply to me personally”.

From talking or texting while driving, to leaving your electronic devices on while taking off on a plane.  There’s a lot of rules out there that definitely apply to everyone…but me.

Whether it’s man made law or natural law we humans seem to gravitate towards justifying ourselves as being above the law.  And just like still speeding even after having been ticketed a lot of us have been through disasters unprepared, deal with the challenges that a scenario like that presents and yet we still seem to think that the need to get prepared doesn’t apply.

Certainly if you’re asked point blank, “Do you think it’s important to prepare for emergency situations?”  Your verbal response will be something like, “Of course”.  However, the voice inside your head responds, “Of course… and I’ll get to it when I have a little more time.”

Sadly that day rarely seems to come and so consciously or subconsciously we tell ourselves that the rules don’t apply to us specifically.  With all things, there eventually comes a day of reckoning.  Like the teenager who chose to hang out with friends instead of studying for the Calculus test on Monday you might be able to coast by occasionally but eventually the numbers work against you, trust me I know, I was that teenager who chose not to study for Calculus.

So why is this worth discussing?  In short it really comes down to this, by recognizing our tendencies to justify decisions that may not be in our best interest we allow ourselves to do something about it.  And while I don’t expect people to start driving under the speed limit (including myself) I am hopeful that people will take the time to consider the ramifications of what might happen if they keep with the mentality that the rule of “BEING PREPARED” doesn’t apply to them.  The end result could very well be more serious than one more speeding ticket or one failed calculus test.

If you’re like me, you like to find ways to make your life as simple as possible.  This approach can be vital in an emergency.  But in addition to simple and easy, when it comes to food you also want to make sure that you’re eating right and getting the vitamins, minerals and vital calories needed to give you the energy to cope with that emergency.  These are exactly the needs the modern day MRE is designed to address.

MRE’s are not only a great option for an emergency, but also for camping, hiking, or other forms  of outdoor activities.  Personally, a MRE Ultimate Self-Heating Full Meal is my top choice when I hit the trail.  When a sandwich and some trail mix were my common meal for out door activities, I always ended up burning through that food within a matter of hours. Now, when I have my MRE Full Meal it provides me with enough snacks as well as a hearty meal to keep me going all day long.

There were originally designed to address the military’s need for a quick and easy meal for personnel in the field. But are now also available to the general public.

On a daily basis I speak with former men and women who has served our great nation and have discovered The Ready Store and it’s great selection of MRE’s.  Most military love MRE’s and The Ready Store is a place where they can purchase a dependable meal and enjoy the same great meals that they had when they were in the service.

If you have any friends or family that have served in the military, talk with them about MRE’s and see what they think.  It might be interesting to get their take on MRE’s, ask them how they think they compare to Freeze-Dried food, (another popular, on the go emergency food option).

If they do not know what Freeze-Dried food is, then just direct them to our site where we have a vast amount of information on Freeze-Dried food and also we have YouTube videos like:

• All about Freeze-Dried Food
• FAQ How do I prepare Freeze-Dried Food
• FAQ What does Freeze-Dried Food look like?

We also have some great videos on MRE’s! Here’s some quick links to view some educational MRE videos:

• MRE Ultimate Self Heating Full Meal Case of 12
• FAQ How does MRE Heater work.
• FAQ What is the Nutritional Value of a MRE.

If you’ve had MRE’s before I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments and experiences with MRE’s.