UKH

Hello!

I’m keen to hear from anyone who’s had a bad experience with freeze dried meals - in particular - any symptoms of gastroenteritis.

Every now and again, a story is shared of terrible consequences after they’ve been eaten but I’m trying to get a sense of whether this is a wider problem or not.

Please share any experiences…

I once fell asleep at a bus stop in Aberdeen and had to snap my kebab off the seat. Can’t say I was that well the next day. 

This thread may be of interest, some chat about food poisoning from freeze dried food further down.

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/expedition+alpine/simon_yates_on_r4_this_...

This summer I went hiking for a few days and took a couple of my 'old' freeze dried meals to use up remaining stocks (I'm now sponsored by a new company I've been working with so use their brand).  The meals were probably 3-5 years old... nothing wild for freeze dried food.

On day 2 I had explosive diarrhea which necessitated multiple unpleasant stops by the side of the trail (literally unable to make it more than a few metres off the path due to sudden onset... even then it was a close call ever time).  I spent 2 days in the tent with mad stomach cramps and dehydration.  Not a lot of fun... not quite Simon Yates level though.

Never had any problems and use freeze dried meals quite a bit in the mountains. Don't see how the ones I use could perish. The use by date is 4-5 years in the future but I'm regularly using them as I say, so it's academic. Wouldn't consider using anything else in the mountains.

I must have ate over 100 freeze dried meals and have never had an issue.

i’d also be interested in understanding how widespread this is. i’ve never had any issues, but the stories are… upsetting. 

would also be interested to know whether certain meals are more at risk of spoiling (e.g. meat, eggs or dairy)?

Interesting to see this happen, my thought has always been its freeze dried food, it lasts forever pretty much. 

This summer I had one that was slightly past its expiry date (its freeze dried food it lasts forever was the thought). I honestly could not finish it, it had an incredibly strong chemical after taste and gave me cramps and stomach ache almost instantly, luckily I didn't have any V&D symptoms, but it took most of the next day to feel right again. 

The only thing I would put it down to is that it was living in our camper on and off for a year or so - maybe the hot/cold fluctuations got to it? 

Never had an issue maybe due to luck, but *assuming* they've been stored normally the three issues I can think of are

• Very very out of date food
• Food prep with unsterile hands from someone who a case of, or is brewing for a case of the sh**s
• Unsanitary water that hasn't been boiled long enough, note the advice for a rolling boil for >3 minutes if above 6,500 ft (https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/making-water-safe.html). Just melting and bring just to boil might not be good enough

Has to be one of those 3 to get sick, surely?

I originally posted on the Mick Fowler thread 65 linked to above. I am a big fan of freeze dried and have used them loads over the years. In my case, like Micks and a few other people's it was none of those things. We had two packets prepped the same way but one tasted of cleaning chemicals and clearly somthing had gone wrong with it. Now I think its a fair comment that after the first taste I shouldn't have scoffed it all (my wife much more intelligently refused after a nibble, and was fine) but I was tired and hungry and didn't think anything could go wrong with freeze dried). 

So they can definitely go bad. Weather this was somthing in the manufacturing process or just going off I don't know, but moral of the story, if it tastes of bleach don't eat it (which as a 40 year old I probably should have known)

I don't do freeze dried hiking food, but I have done breakfast cereal with freeze-dried strawberries in it for years with no ill effects and no doubt so have millions of other people.

So I guess the question is. by what mechanism can freeze-dried hiking food go bad? Is it fats going rancid? Is it bacteria growing which the original cooking and freeze-drying process didn't kill off? If it is bacteria growing, is it live bacteria not being killed by on hike poor 'cooking', or is it bacteria making toxins as happens with leftover rice which cannot be cured by cooking?

My limited experience of them is fairly crunchy undercooked meals. Maybe it's the whole 'just add boiling water' thing in cold environments, causing under-hydrated foods to poorly digest. 

me and friends have had numerous freeze dried meals with no issue.... except one instance where it seems the dehydration packet or something may have leaked/split. he said it tasted awful, quit after eating about a quarter, but alas it was too late. He was pretty horribly ill for a number of days after, Not ideal given the trip we were on as we were rather time limited!

Freeze drying doesn't kill bacteria, simply slows it down.  It seems the issue is packs being punctured, the food gets moist and bacteria grows.  The interesting part is the reports of tastes of 'bleach', 'chemicals' etc.  I do wonder if the "oxygen eater" sachet in these packets is the cause of this once the food starts to go bad.

The time I got ill, was with a brand that didn't use oxygen scavenger packets.  But I agree that a tiny puncture is probably a likely culprit in many cases.

Not had any issues myself, although not eaten a massive amount of freeze dried meals (due to the cost) so not a meaningful sample size, the chemical taste people are mentioning warrants finding out what going on there for sure.

Because I am a cheap b’stid, I decided a few years back to stick to cheap energy rich food, so I generally pack instant noodles/idahoen potato powder, dried veg flakes and some pepperami sticks for protein. breakfast is porridge. Snacks for lunch. Only out a couple of days at a time so bearable.

Yes I have experienced it. Only on one occasion out of the approx 30 times I have eaten them. It had the same "chemical" taste as described upthread and I became extremely ill with D&V. After 24h of hell I was fine again, so at least the symptoms were shortlived

The 'use by' dates definitely need to be respected.  Prepared one from a highly regarded supplier, that I've used loads of times before, and it was a bit out of date.  I thought it would surely be OK - how can a freeze dried meal go bad, it might not taste as good?
But thankfully, it was obviously very wrong - so didn't get eaten. 
And luckily it was only a weekend trip, but if it was an expedition to a remote area, and you were relying on a number of meals it would be a disaster.  So that was my learning experience - always respect the 'use by date'.

I have had 2 in 2 years that were inedible.
One only just out of date, one well within date. I suspect there must have been a tiny flaw in the packaging that allowed air in - and thence a very slow oxidation. Both stored safely in a cool dark place before use.

Thankfully both smelled odd when I opened them, a small taste when rehydrated confirmed it. I had spare food so it wasn't an issue but in a more extreme situation it could have been.

We had a bag of dehydrated chicken curry get stolen by a baboon, but that’s probably not what you mean. 

I know you know but just to confirm I have had two situations. On one the meal was a month or two out of date. On the other occasion two meals from the same batch were a year in date. On both occasions the diarrhoea and feeling of being poisoned was extremely grim. On both occasions one person only had a couple of mouthfuls and was still very ill.