Watch Out For Food Storage Lies
I have noticed a trend over the last few years when it comes to food storage, 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.
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 less at all times. The chances of you storing it at 55 degrees is extremely rare. They don't even put this on their web sites, 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 to be “competitive”.
Integrity should be the first thing a company stands by, but many of these companies honestly don't have any or very little. I have seen reputable companies offer Freeze dried food in pouches and only claim 10-12 year shelf life. That is what I look for.
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 web site, 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 on this Claim, be sure to see the evidence.
Lie #3: “Our Food Storage is Gluten Free.”
This is mostly done over the phone, but I have seen it on some of their web sites. This claim goes a long 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.
Lie #4: “Our Pouches are nitrogen flushed and have an oxygen absorber in them, which helps them last 25 years.”
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.
Lie #5: “We have Celebrity and Radio personalities that endorse our products”
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”.
Have you seen these Food Storage Lies, share your story below.
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So start naming names. You are almost as bad by providing this artical but not naming the brands that are pulling these shenanigans.
While we would like to name names, any brand names on the post will only give those companies more advertising and keywords with google.
Not to mention, it can open them up to an expensive lawsuit, from the named companies.
This is advice, from the author. Take it as you will, YOU assign the value of anyone’s advice, or opinion.
Thank you for writing this article. It needed to be said. – I personally teach Freeze Dried cooking classes at the local community college and help Adult Family Homes to get their emergency supplies in order. Most of them have been duped by the 5 Food Storage Lies. Thanks again for taking a risk and writing this article.
I worked their business and watched the comments of which I was one of the first to post about Non-Gmo food. They made lots of claims but could not verify to anyone. They said to revert back to the previous label. No proof provided for a number of claims that were asked.
I quit them.
Really? The article just gave you all the tools you needed to figure it out for yourself.
Jeff, since you can’t post those companies, it might help others that need food storage, what companies you recommend.
Thanks for all your help..enjoy all the posts!
debi
These are the companies I recommend, there may be other good ones, but these are them:
Mountain House Freeze Dried Food
Survive2Thrive Organic Food Storage by Enerhealth Botanicals
Meats from Survival Cave Food – Chicken, Pork, Turkey, Beef, or Ground Beef
Thank you much!!!
Actually, food stored in 65 degrees or less, if kept dry and dark, whether, dehydrated or freeze dried, will last up to 25 years as long as these foods are low in fats, or fat free, and devoid of oxygen. Canned foods also, stored under these conditions, will last as Long or longer. The taste may not be as good, and some nutrients are lost, but these foods will still be edible and give adiquit nutrition. Research has been widely done on food preservation, look it up, this article is not really factual. I have been homesteading for many years, and I know this article is misleading. On the other hand, if you are expecting food that has been stored for years to taste farm fresh, well then you will be disappointed, but if you want food to be edible, reasonably neutrino us, and pretty good if doctored up a bit, you will not be let down by food that has been stored well but is old.
Certain foods will last over 30 years, our point in this article is in the claims that are made for “Dehydrated pouched Meals”, the claim of 25 years is misleading if not a lie. Please read the article again, we are not talking about foods like beans, rice, and some dehydrated fruits that can last a long time.
I really like the products Jeff sells and his dedication to customer service.
Good points in the article and comments. I have a feeling anybody who has purchased storage food will be using it up long before 25 years passes.
Thank you for raising these five points. I have been happy with Mountain House over the years. Recently I opened and shared with my family an envelope of MH Beef Stroganoff that was at least 40 years old. I was a Boy Scout in the 70’s and this package got stowed away with a bunch of old gear. It was bland but it was not bad. And I know over the years it was not maintained below 65 degrees.
What company do you recommend for gluten free?
We recommend this bucket:
http://www.directive21.com/product-category/usda-certified-organic-long-term-food-storage/
I see those are organic. How about gluten free?
Here is Gluten Free Food Storage:
http://www.directive21.com/product-category/usda-certified-organic-long-term-food-storage/
Do you know anything about shelf reliance/ Thrive Life?
We have found that they are a reputable company, although we do not offer products that are in an MLM. We have chosen to carry most of the products we offer in stock.
As I said above as far as Thrive Foods. The are good, no doubt, but I questioned them a year or so ago about GMO’s and not only did they take a very long time to respond (a forum) they could not provide a concise answer and told us to refer back to an earlier label. I began to have questions and backed out, but am very happy to have emergency rations no matter what they are! If, I mean when, the shtf you may be happy to have dog food. :o)
Heya Folks,
I created a product back when I was looking for food storage that had a reasonable shelf life, good nutrition, and adequate calories for a reasonable price, and was unable to find what I was looking for. In researching the necessary nutrition I compared most if not all of the products on the market at the time and found them sorely lacking in both calories, which is easy to do, and nutrition which is almost impossible to do. The product I created is as much organic as I could reasonably make it, the cost difference being minimal in some cases when bought in bulk, but the stickler is TVP. You will NEVER find TVP that is non gmo because TVP is a byproduct of removing the soy oil from soybeans. There is not enough market for organic soy oil, which is a cheap product used in almost all fast food restaurants to cook fries and such in, to sustain any company selling it.
The product I came up with contains EVERYTHING a person needs to survive and thrive, including vitamins and minerals except for the water you need to cook it and drink with it. I use two supplements to ensure complete nutrition, krill oil and a multi-vitamin. The downside was the price. My product is quite a bit more expensive than the current offerings, and cannot be made to be much cheaper due to the regulations on food preparation. I would have to have a kitchen with a mixer and many other very expensive items in order to simply buy in bulk and scoop a pound of say egg powder into a smaller bag for resale. I don’t need any of these items and cannot sustain their purchasing cost with the volume of business I can do.
Even if I could buy bulk and resell without the equipment and licensing etc, I could only reduce the cost of my product by one third, leaving it still at least twice as expensive as many products. On the other hand, one popular product has 1/4 the calories and almost NO nutrition in it and sells like hotcakes. Another issue is people expect just add water meals instead of single ingredients they can combine in different ways, which is the way my product is sold, or not sold as the case may be. Fortunately I have built my business model in such a way that I do not purchase my ingredients until I get an order so I am not stuck with tons of stock, this also ensures the maximum shelf life from my product.
In short I tried to “do it right” and to say that the market is not beating down a path to my door would be a masterpiece of understatement. As of now the company is barely paying it’s own bills, which are fortunately very low as it is an entirely internet based company. Hosting fees and domain name purchase are the only expenses at present. I used organic SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, which is pretty much defunct at the present time due to too much competition in the market and cheating on google. Marketing costs a lot more money than can be recovered with the small niche market of HEALTHY emergency food storage, so I consider it highly unlikely you will ever see a mass marketed product like mine.
I pretty much gave up on trying to make any money with the site, and now use it for a blog and instructional videos and product reviews for my prepper followers. I have not updated the SEO or used any social media campaigns or taken any active role in seeking out business for the company for some time now.
– The clinical nutritionist has already done the calculations on the micro and macro nutrition so the hard work is already done. All you have to do is order the stuff. As you will see on the site, organic items are sometimes only a dollar or two more a pound, well worth it. Two things, my product and the ingredients are almost exclusively dehydrated, as it is cheaper by far than freeze dried, but the cooking process is more involved than freeze dried, which only requires the addition of water. The second thing is dehydrated foods do not keep as long as freeze dried though it is a close second if kept from moisture. The proper way to use any emergency food is to eat it so it does not ever go to waste in my opinion. Get a year supply, and start using it and replacing it as necessary.
If you want a placebo sitting in your garage for the next 25 years making you feel better about the world going to hell in a hand-basket around you, get the cheapest thing you can find and feel better about it. If you think you may actually have to USE the stuff someday, get something that will actually sustain you indefinitely. Most products out there if used long term will cause you to die of scurvy, rickets, and malnutrition. If you eat the product I developed long term, you will still die….of old age.
Particularly check out the Survival Food Storage Products tab, there are many products there I personally own and use and vouch for. If you purchase them from the links I get a nominal advertising fee for anything you put into your cart after clicking my link. This 4% fee helps defray the cost of hosting the website and adds nothing to your cost. Hope you guys find this information of some use.
GIJeff
Youtube: GIJeffTek
Ham Callsign: K3SLK
Hi do you have any more brands that you trust if survival foods and do you know of any that don’t have msg also thanks Eileen
This is the best one we know of:
http://www.directive21.com/products/organic-food-storage/