As good as it gets: Your food stockpile never tasted this good
A lot of companies are claiming anything in order to get your business.
I wanted to expose these things as food storage lies, whether intentional or not.
Save 67% Today: You have the food, now have the skills to navigate ANY catastrophe
At the very least, they are misleading claims, but having received many calls and emails from food storage companies, I had to share this list of what I see as food storage lies or misleading statements when it comes to purchasing long term food storage.
Lie #1: “Our dehydrated pouched Food Storage meals last 25 years.”
The most prolific of all the lies, this one doesn't reveal the fact that the food must be stored at 55 degrees or fewer at all times. The chances of you storing it at 55 degrees is extremely rare. They don't even put this on their websites, and won't even tell you on the phone.
Once you get the bucket, you will see the fine print. Some may not even have this fact on the bucket when you get it. Also, one Food Storage company who claims a 25-year shelf life has even admitted to me that they use the claim just want to be “competitive”.
Lie #2: “Our Food Storage is Non-GMO.”
If any company says that, I would specifically ask them for what certifications they have. Then have them email you the certifications. Don't let them say I will get back to you, demand to see them before placing your order.
If they have a USDA Organic Certification or another reputable GMO testing certification, then they have something to back up the claim. Also, this claim may not be on their website, but if they say on the phone to you that their food is Non-GMO, immediately ask them to send you their certifications via email.
Most likely they won't have them. I have talked with a Food Storage company who claimed Non-GMO, but had no certifications. Buyer Beware of this Claim, be sure to see the evidence.
This is mostly done over the phone, but I have seen it on some of their websites. This claim goes along with the Non-GMO claim, ask for certifications and make sure they are from organizations that you find reputable.
Don't fall for in-house tests or anything like it.
Ask for certifications before thinking about purchasing any of their food storage. I also recommend calling the certification companies, and talking with them about the process. Your health could be at stake, I recommend being extremely cautious of any food storage company that claims Gluten Free. Making Gluten Free food can be pricy, so if the prices are low or comparable to their regular meals, I would look elsewhere.
While the first part of this claim is true, the 2nd part is not. They can also say they double or triple nitrogen flush the pouches, its all marketing. Also,Check Lie #1 for their claim of 25 years.
(If you are unfamiliar with nitrogen flushing, here is a basic description of what it is:
Nitrogen flushing is a type of preservation method used with packaged foods such as coffee beans, nuts, rice cakes, snack crackers and chips. When you go to the grocery store to buy a bag of chips, you'll probably notice the bag is puffed and filled with ‘air.' But it's not exactly like the air we breathe because the package doesn't contain oxygen.
When processed food is exposed to oxygen, it deteriorates – oils go rancid, discoloration occurs and the food spoils. Oxygen can be removed from the packaging by removing all of the air with a vacuum, which will increase the shelf life of the food packed inside.)
These are paid endorsements, and some of them are very costly endorsements. I wonder if these people have even tried the meals which they endorse, as they seem to mimick each other when the ads run. Don't fall for the marketing, if there is a high profile endorsement, I personally won't buy it.
Lastly, there are reputable food storage companies and organizations to buy food storage from. The ones I personally purchase are either 100% freeze dried , USDA Organic (, or minimally processed. I avoid dehydrated Meals and have seen that they are highly processed.
Be sure to check the list above before falling for what I call: “Food Storage Lies”.
-Jeff
Have you seen these Food Storage Lies?
Have you fallen victim to them yourself?
Share your story below.
How much water do these foods require to render them edible? In an emergency, water is probably very hard to come by.
The song dog is a bit lean and stringy, but in a pinch will do. The mac pigeon is better fed and less tough than most farmed squab. ANY obviously diseased or “died by itself” animal needs to be buried so as not to spread disease. DEFINITELY OFF THE MENU!!!!!!!!!
As a former left coaster myself, I wish you luck. Try the fishing. It used to bring in both food and income.
Brian, I need to disagree with you on the carrion, although they smell real bad,and the meet maybe green and spoiling, You can cook the stuff, just boil the heck out of it. best way to keep the nutrients and kill bacteria. It will taste bad, but after boiling for a few of hours, rolling boil. it will be safe to eat. Bon-apatite.
for the record I taught survival for the Army at Ft Rucker AL and overseas.
You are correct, full is full, hungry is dead.
Is that the Glow in the dark fish now in our waters?
A lot of these comments are just silly. Yeah, survival food might advertise shelf life of 25 years but anyone with any sense will use and rotate. Canned goods should also be rotated and replaced. Common sense, folks!
As to Nancy’s question about water, that’s easy. There are lots of web sites that offer water filters and low cost methods of purifying water to make it safe. I keep cheap 5-foot kiddie pool on uncovered part of patio to collect rain water. Whenever it rains, I bail the water into cleaned juice bottles for storage. These bottles tuck nicely under beds. If all else fails, I’ll boil a pot of water on the propane barbeque to make it safe. I also keep an extra bottle of bleach on hand for water disinfection and purification.
Why is vacuum packing better than oxygen absorption? Without nitrogen flushing, the air left behind in tiny crevasses still contains some oxygen whereas oxygen absorption even without nitrogen flushing and without vacuum packing leaves behind no oxygen, only a bit of CO2 and the 80% nitrogen that is in air. Home preservation of food in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber, most air pushed out, and the bag sealed with heat provides a VERY inexpensive way for storing food WITHOUT any additional cost to a commercial third party.
As a basic source for calories, enriched white rice is the best bargain – 1000 pounds of uncooked rice costs only 320 dollars and will produce 3000 pounds of cooked rice. Of course it doesn’t contain enough protein or micronutrients other than iron, niacin and thiamin, BUT it beats starvation, there is enough to share, and no big financial loss if you end up not needing or eating it. Brown rice only lasts a few years with this sort of preparation because of the amino acids and the oils that become rancid.
In my preparations, additional protein is provided by canned meat and vitamins/minerals by megavitamin tablets, at least until the latter has been completely discredited and politically incorrect.
John W. – LJ San Diego
A diet heavy in white rice can lead to beri beri which can be a fatal disease if left untreated. The last Tokugawa shogun in Japan died of beri beri which is strange to think that one of the most powerful men in the country would die of malnutrition when he could afford any food he wanted. Unfortunately for him, his preferred meal was white rice and there was no one to tell him that he shouldn’t eat that much white rice. Beri beri and its cause was well known in Japan at the time, yet like so many powerful figures in history, none of his coterie of syncophants would tell him that he was killing himself.
Beriberi is easily prevented by adding thiamine (B1) to the diet, or as in the post above, adding multivitamins to the diet. It isn’t caused by eating rice, rather it is a vitamin deficiency from eating over processed rice and not getting the vitamin from another source.
Thanks for the information. I just want to point out a typo in your title. You have “5 Food Storage Lies Your Being Spoon Fed Right Now.”
“Your” should be “You’re” I don’t normally point out typos, but since it’s in your title, I thought you’d like to know.
HAHA, thank you A.S! That one slipped right by me 🙂 It’s fixed now.
Why do I care if there are GMO’s in the survival food or if it is gluten free?? Do people really think that companies producing GMO’s are making a product that will kill their customers? And “gluten-free” is as idiotic as “organic”. The number of people who are actually sensitive to gluten is vanishingly small. “Organic” food is expensive because of the incredible amount of spoilage due to bugs and vermin. And because dupes will pay more for “organic” foods. The truth is that the chemicals used in normal farming wash off in the rain, or by washing the fruits and vegetables, which you should do anyways, because a lot of the illegals / 3rd world farm workers will piss and defecate in the fields, which leads to outbreaks of food poisoning. If the stuff fed to non-“organically” raised animals didn’t hurt them, it won’t hurt you after at least two bouts of cooking/processing.
RetroG, I had to comment on your post. Do YOU actually believe these companies have OUR best interests at heart? Ask yourself these three questions; Do I trust a company to produce SAFE, non-toxic food who also produced AGENT ORANGE for the Viet Nam war? (Ask men who are now suffering long term debilitating diseases caused by agent orange if they do, including my husband who has type 2 diabetes because of it)
2. IF Monsanto’s food products are so safe, WHY has Obama by executive order, given TOTAL protection for them against any who might become sick from their GMOs and want to sue? Monsanto is guaranteed free rein to produce without ever having to fear prosecution or a lawsuit.
3. WHY have almost ALL other counties completely BANNED GMO foods from being brought into there countries? Do your research, you’ll change your mind.
Let me answer your questions.
1. Monsanto is a large company that makes many products, including prescription and over the counter medications. So, yes, I do trust them to make safe products. Agent Orange was misused by the military, and people suffered from it.
2. Like a lot of Obama’s big contributors, Monsanto may have gotten a payback in the form of an EO. But that doesn’t prevent them from being sued, ask any lawyer.
3. Countries use all kind of bans and taxes to protect their own farmers and agriculture companies. Plus a lot of their citizens are ignorant about GMO’s as well. Farmers have been “genetically modifying” crops for millenia by cross-breeding plants, and it happens naturally by both mutation and by viral infection (fyi, viruses are how scientists figured out how to do genetic modification in the labratory).
I’ve done my research and it did change my mind. “GMO’s” just aren’t dangerous.
RetroG,
Specifically regarding your last point about farmers, the genetic modification done by BigAg companies is vastly different than the cross-breeding or grafting done by farmers. Cross-breeding involves choosing 2 parent plants that have desirable traits and manually pollinating to create a daughter plant with specific traits,and grafting is taking root stock from a plant with certain traits and affixing it to an aerial plant portion with certain traits. Both of these methods are used with plants of the same family i.e. tomatoes and tomatoes or orchids and orchids. Genetic modification involves splicing DNA from one species (most commonly not even a plant) with a desirable trait with the DNA of a plant whose growing or disease-resistance they want to manipulate. For example, tomatoes and strawberries have both had genes from arctic fish spliced into their DNA to affect frost resistance.
Obviously, you you haven’t done much research on the subject, so here are a few places you can start –
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-basics/the-ge-process
http://b4fa.org/biosciences-and-agriculture/plantbreeding/plant-breeders-cross-plants/
You have no clue about gluten intolerance or celiac, do you? There are MANY people that are intolerant of gluten and in an emergency situation, the last thing you want is GI problems, rashes, lack of energy or migraines to slow you down.
I do have a clue about gluten intolerance & celiac, as a good friend has chronic GI problems, and we have looked into a lot of possible causes. Out of 300,000,000 people in this country “MANY” may have these problems, but as a percentage of the population, it is a tiny fraction.
If you ARE one of the very few who have been diagnosed with this problem, then go for the gluten free products, but otherwise you are just limiting your options in terms of food, ESPECIALLY in a survival situation.
I beg to differ on the “gluten free” comment. I am “wheat intolerant” so stated by my physician. When I inadvertently ingest wheat or even use a product that has “wheat protein” added to it, I end up with allergy induced bronchial pneumonia for 6 months at a time. So the previous comment is way off base.
Why would anyone buy food in a pouch that has a 25 year shelf life? Every time some yahoo tries to sell me such cr@p, I ask them to produce a 25 year old pouch of their dried out hard to identify food like substance. Not one person has been able to show me a 25 year old edible product. Bottom line, store what you eat and eat what you store. And we all know your every day meals are not from a multi-year pouch.
BTW,Chuck… it was the second to the last Shogun, Tokugawa Iemochi, who died of heart disease related to beriberi.
Where will I find the Playing Cards with garden instructions?
Thank you,
Virginia Hagen
I have seen gluten-FULL foods placed in Gluten-free pages. Look for anything that is an entree, like “Chicken Ala King”-wheat noodles. Didn’t get passed this Sneakerdoodle! Read ingredients and if there are none, be suspicious.
i have noticed a lot of the stuff touted as survival food or super energy bars is made of low quality ingredients. Much of it is pretty much crap. If you are used to eating garbage and fast food for a lifestyle, you probably won’t notice much of a difference, but if you are used to growing your own food, preparing food from scratch and eating higher quality food, your GI is in for a big shock for a while, and with the added stress of SHTF, you might end up pretty sick and incapacitated at the worst possible time.
I would prefer to create my own stockpile using canning, dehydration, and vacuum sealing.
TC
I just read your comment about dehydration and vacuum sealing. I have been wanting to buy a food dehydrator. How or where can I go to read about how to do this.,,,,,dehydrating food to eat now and to store/ prep?
thanks
Kim in Ohio
I read bad nights and easy shelters you came upon a cave to spend the night but you didn’t because you saw bear poop n the ground and knew a bear was coming there- always keep zip lock bags and put animal poop in it to coverup your poop because even if you burry yours if can be found especially by dogs.
Water for those who have none First look up natural springs in your area. Second if you go to the store water is on sale. Third get cans of green beans and veggies packed in water as to green beans you get about a cup of water that can be used to hydrate dehydrated foods.
Mark
M a garage, basement if you have one… under the bed, on the highest shelf you can’t reach… behind books on a book shelf… behind the sofa..be creative! Just remember cool & dry! As for gluten-free the only way to be sure is make your own. I’ve found many ‘recipes in jars’ etc. on the internet that are or can be made to be gluten free. Grow a garden. you can do it in pots if you have no yard. & I seriously would start NOW! Good luck! from a woman already prepared
You forgot the “servings” size issue which can turn a “month supply” of pre-packaged meals into a weeks worth of actual meals.
Most servings listed on the food storage packets are based on a “cup” of food per serving which likely isn’t enough for most adults to survive on let alone get full on.
If you have to eat three servings to just knock down the food craving when hungry don’t expect your “month of meals” food bucket to come close to lasting the number of days stated on the side of the bucket.
In a survival situation, I would only make 2 meals a day (say 11 Am and 7 P.M.) That would cut down on using your supplies and you’d still eat’ 3 meals a day is a waste of your supplies’
Are there any suggestions on who DOES have good food that lasts for a while? I was going to get the 25 yeR buckets, but now I don’t know what I should get anymore. Who makes a legit 10-15 year bucket? What about MRE’s or those 5 year bars that you cut up?
Deb’Try Survival Joe.net,or David’s site’ I have them,Great’
M’ I keep mine in Rubbermaid containers (which I’m out of,mark the date,what’s in them (freeables or dry goods) and have them in a cool storage room’
Given the links above, what else is there for decent whole foods that are GMO free, preservative free and decent quality? I really don’t need to be preserved as well.
Thanks
If ther stuff would REALLY last 25 years it would be great. But it probably wont. In my younger days (much younger)I got some olde C rations form an ad on shot gun news. These were 50 years old and they werent spoiled. Most GIs however would argue with that statement…lol Now when you buy canned food and the expiration dates are just a few years. As far as hunting for your food one must keep in mind that if every one in the US that has guns (65 million) went hunting. All of the game would be extinct within a month. During the depression most of the white tail deer in west virginia were wiped out. Driving through Indiana one day a car in front of me hit a raccoon. The hispanic driver stopped the car jumped out and threw the thing in his trunck and drove off with it. I saw him at a rest area and asked why he did that cause the road crews would get it later. He said in Mexico that all most of the wild animals are gone. Road kills are very few and far between.
Wise foods makes it very clear that the food needs to be kept at particular temps in order to last 25 years. It is clearly written on the packaging and on their website.
People not noticing or paying attention is their own liability, not Wise Foods.
I have severe peanut allergies and my wife has an allergy to onions. Not one of the Food Storage Co’s can send us any of their pre-packaged units (boxes, buckets, etc.) that doesn’t have at least half of the meals in it that we cannot eat. So why buy them. It is better to package your own that way you know what you have and if you can eat it or not safely. Instead of pay for 150 pouches of meals and have to throw away 1/2 or pray that you can find someone in the same area as you that would be willing to trade with you.
Brett, I know what you mean. One thing you could do with what you can not eat is to use them as barter items but, it doesn’t help with getting your stock built up. So you might find somebody that has other things you need now that would trade for the food you can’t eat.
Brett, wow – I had no idea I could offer any advice, but I have a major poultry and egg allergy and I have similar problems with the prepackaged foods. Sorry to bring up brand names but GO FOODS used to be vegan.. no eggs yeah! I have carefully found items i can order from Go Foods and Thrive both – that are “just add water” – as I feel there will be a “learning” time if/when anything really bad happens. I have “just add water packaged foods” for this reason and I am currently learning how to use my food storage in our daily meals. So that it is not too difficult to integrate into our daily lives… And yes having items you will be able to “trade” with – may be a good thing for some of us!
I want to ask if you have looked at Thrive. They are a Utah based company that provides food storage. I would like to know what you think of their technique in processing their products. Thanks for your posts. I love the research you do and the awesome helpful tips you post. The web Address is http://www.thrive.com
Ok, to Katie, I also have Thrive products and so far so good. Although I am fairly new to using this company’s foods, (3 years now) they are much better tasting than many of the other Dehydrated items out there. I purchase both the #10 size cans and the Pantry sized cans – I use the pantry cans for using on a daily basis. I feel I must know what all this storage food and how to use it. I have adapted several of their recipes to make it work for my family. I can’t tell you about the 25 year shelf life yet, but they are fairly accurate on serving sizes and the quality and taste of their product exceeds most others I have purchased.
So, with this in mind- why aren’t there references to truly non GMO organic or Gluten free companies listed. No solutions? Just the problem.
It seems you’ve done the research. Suggestions?
These types of foods should be supplements to your food storage and not all of your storage … many taste great, and if you were in a shtf situation and had a few that were 10 years old, I am sure you would eat them … with that said, you must supplement your food storage with growing your own fresh fruits, veggies and herbs … just my two cents.
by the way – I must tell everyone – I love Mike The Gardener’s seeds and his website! Yes, I get his seeds monthly and I have had tremendous success with all of them! You will not go wrong with his products, suggestions or information from his web site. Watch and sometimes he has free e-books… what a nice gift for those of us who are faithful Mike The Gardener folks!
That is why I pack my own
The biggest lie is that a serving = 1 meal. Just take the number servings times the calories per serving, and do it for all the different items in the package, then add all the calories together and divide by number of calories you need per day to find how long it will really last you. One food set often gets advertized as 3 serving per day but, for 2000 calories per day you need 15 servings per day. To find how many serving per day you need just divide the total number of serving by the number of days it really will last.
Yep. Didn’t know where to purchase. Purchased from Food 4 Patriots. Would like the truth what I can expect from these foods. Maybe 10-12 year shelf life? I spent all I can afford at this time, can’t afford any more.
Wow – lots of info in the comments also. Thank you Survival life for sharing this information… To offer a tidbit to Kim, RE:dehydrating~ my preference for a dehydrating machine is Excalibur, however i suggest just getting one to learn and use – as you become more comfortable, buy a better quality machine if you need. I have 4 all different brands and I do use them often but my favorite is the excalibur 9 shelf! As for Dana, I also don’t trust the pouch info~I use mostly cans, whether home canned or sealed ones. I am currently using a #10 can of 1989 canned wheat – it still sprouts and grinds well and basically is fine. Great bread, no problems here. And yes – buy what you eat, eat what you buy…and if I could add – learn how to store what you grow, pressure cooking/canning or basic canning, dehydrating or sealing (seal a meal type). Now onto Left Coast Chuck – regarding growing what we need – I have purchased an Aero Garden and a Tower Garden both. They both produce wonderful growing food. I will not use the aero garden for tomatoes (cherry ones) again, but herbs and lettuce grow wonderfully. My Tower Garden will come inside this winter with grow lights for mostly greens and salad makings to help limit trips to town for fresh veggies. And utilizing rain water and 250 gallons jugs at the ends of my roof, along with purification devices and we should have water to rehydrate, cook and consume. Thank you again Survival Life – between your readers and your information, I learn so much getting on here!
Re: the “25 year” storage.
What about the LDS Cannery items which have those 25 year expirations? White rice, wheat, flour, pastas… maybe a couple of the dried vegies. Are those accurate (assuming ideal conditions)? Only their processed storage items seem to have 5 year dates (like the instant refried beans).
I am learning about fermentation, dehydration and curing. People safely stored food for millennia before refrigeration. I unplugged mine and the electric bill dropped $150 a month! For a useless machine! If you make your own food, you know exactly what’s in it 🙂
Here is my question, on the 25 yrs shelf life stuff, what happens to it and what can it do to you. I store a lot of it and I know I’m suppose to rotate but in all actuality we don’t eat that kind of stuff much normally. I also have a very large family (12 counting myself and husband) so I really can’t afford to just throw it out ever couple of years, and it is a very large amount when it’s a year supply so it’s not even stored in my kitchen it’s in a basement root feller. Oh I also live in interior alaska so no heat wave here. What’s your thought on this I have done a lot of research and really can’t find much info about prepping long term with large family
You talk about the lies; can you recommend some reputable companies to buy from?
The probability of staying in one place for 25 years is pretty slim. We are a mobile society and we move relatively often, perhaps for jobs, for going to school, maybe because you spouse just doesn’t like the current environment, etc, etc.. If we plan to have plenty of food stored up, then we have to move it if you plant to continue eating. Keep it cool, keep it dry, keep it dark. Prevent wild temperature swings. Remember the basic things that are needed: Beans, Rice (white and brown), Oatmeal, Salt, Sugar, All Purpose Flour, Rye Flour, Seeds such as sunflower seeds, nuts such as walnuts and pecans, and dehydrated fruits placed in glass canning jars with lots of sugar on them, Seeds for planting, Lentils, split peas, and assorted dry beans. Dehydrated meat, lots of sticks of pepperoni. Cheese, Yes, even common types of cheese will last for weeks. Most companies that say that they make up foods to last for 25 years is plain bull crap! They are lying through their teeth!! How many people do you know that have had food stored for 25 years? If you want to put dry foods into mylar bags then put the bags into bakery buckets, then put something in the bucket which will absorb oxygen (Oxygen causes things to go rancid) and if you can, flush the atmosphere of the bucket and replace the air with nitrogen. There is no good reason NOT to put nitrogen and oxygen absorbent products into the same bucket. If you are into prepping, be wary of what they are trying to peddle … you can get most stuff from Walmart for a MUCH reduced price if you know what you want and why you need it. Good Luck!