Note from PJ: Thanks to Kyle for sending me this information, we have been emailing back and forth about this for a while now. For those of us who have Mountain House pouches as part of our preps, this is certainly good news.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Twelve-year pouch shelf life is longest to be verified in the emergency industry
Albany, Ore. – September 29, 2014 – New testing by the Sensory Science Laboratory at Oregon State University has found the food pouches of Mountain House, the leading provider of freeze dried foods for outdoor recreation and long-term storage, offer a 20-percent longer shelf life than previously verified. The third-party testing, which Mountain House commissions on a regular basis to ensure their rigorous standards are met, showed a 12-year shelf life, compared to the 10-year shelf life previous testing had proved in 2012. This represents the longest independently verified shelf life in the industry.
“Shelf life remains one of the most important variables in the emergency preparedness market, and we are continually looking to provide our consumers with the most up-to-date information on our products, backed by unbiased third-party testing,” said Reiner Bohlen, marketing manager at Mountain House. “Other companies may claim to offer pouches of food with longer shelf lives, but they fail to provide independent testing to substantiate those claims.”
For those looking to Mountain House for emergency preparedness or other long-term food storage needs, the brand’s food packaged in #10 cans offers a verified 25-year shelf life and has been a popular choice for decades. This latest testing on Mountain House foods packaged in proprietary pouches shows them to be another viable option for long-term storage. The pouches also provide greater variety, easier storage, and more convenient serving sizes.
To conduct the testing, the OSU Sensory Science Laboratory evaluated foods from Mountain House pouches archived 12 years ago and compared the results to the same recipes packaged this year. The testing found with a 99.9% confidence level that there is not a significant difference in taste between the current pouches of food and those that are aged 12 years.
“We know the emergency preparedness community takes great care in storing food. After all, the health, well-being, and comfort of their families depends on it”,” said Bohlen. “At Mountain House, we take the same care in creating our meals. We also have the most conservative definition of shelf life in the industry: virtually indistinguishable from new production. We want people to trust that in an emergency, they’ll be able to turn to Mountain House products for reliable, great-tasting and nutritious foods, on day one or year 12.”
Oregon Freeze Dry, the makers of Mountain House, has a long history of excellence in the freeze-dried foods industry, pioneering the necessary technology and processes for over 50 years. As part of a rigorous, ongoing quality assurance program, Mountain House regularly tests its own archived products rather than making assumptions based on “accelerated aging” or testing of other types of food. More information on Mountain House’s efforts in this area can be found on its website.
About Mountain House
Based in Albany, Ore., Mountain House has been the first choice of backpackers, hikers, campers and other outdoor adventurers for nearly 50 years. Mountain House is also a favorite long-term food storage solution for emergency preparedness. Mountain House strives to produce products that are convenient, lightweight and easy to prepare – and that have the longest proven shelf life in the industry. For more information and a complete list of product offerings, visit www.mountainhouse.com.
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This is good information to have, although not particularly surprising to me. Many foods will last for years past their expiration dates, as we have discussed in other articles on this forum.
Thanks for sharing this information and giving us a more concrete time frame on Mountain House. It definiftely puts Mountain House above other for me, simply because they did the research.
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No problem brother, glad you could benefit from the info (I know I did too).
Nice. Pretty cool everyone went through the time and trouble to let us know.
I have a one year Mountain House premium kit “http://beprepared.com/premium-1600-one-year-supply.html” that is one year old, in original sealed boxes, I have to sell because I am leaving the country, If interested contact me at hicks3456@yahoo.com
I have gone almost entirely to the #10 cans for FD & DH foods because 1- most economical way to buy these long-term foods. 2-cans are much more rodent-proof than pouches, the pouches I do keep are stored in plastic 6-gallon buckets. 3-If you carry gallon-size zip-lock bags with you (even under the plastic snap-on lid of each can) then when you open the can, use what you want right then, place the removing amount into the zip-lock bag, forcing out as much air as possible, and place back into the can, (duct) taping the plastic lid on to secure it and keep the scent inside reducing attraction for local animals! The cans can also be used to boil water in and as the cooking container for the contents! Even building materials in a pinch! Good Luck!