Established (long term) manufacturers generally do not exhibit any of these issues. They've stayed in business because they offer a good or excellent product, have many satisfied customers, and have not misrepresented their company or their products in any way.

Their food shelf life is proven (not just guessed at) because they've been in business for many decades. This time frame also underscores the suitability of their packaging techniques and materials, and the long-term edibility of their food after being stored for decades. In other words, they can prove themselves and customers know this. You know you are getting a quality food products that will work and you've made an excellent investment.

However, there have been many companies that hope their food is never actually eaten. Doing so can reveals serious issues like bad taste, low or even insufficient calories, poor food selection, staleness, saltiness, highly repetitive meals, poor taste and/or disagreeable texture, high sodium levels and improper packaging materials and techniques. When these issues are found, and compared to the original advertising claims made in order to gain the sale, they are bad investments in personal, family or company food storage.

A few of these manufactures permit hundreds to thousands of resellers and dealers to sell their food products (saturation marketing). This practice introduced severe problems within the storable food industry, which can be summarized as price gouging, dishonesty, misrepresentation, inexperience, false advertising, phony claims and dissatisfied customers who felt as if they've been ripped off. Nobody regulates this practice and it continues to this day.

Nobody wants to find out that their food storage selection was a bad choice - or even worse, fails to meet their needs. This is much more serious then some may realize:

In the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, participants on a semi-starvation 1560 calorie diet experienced depression, hysteria and hypochondriasis, severe emotional distress and depression. Participants also exhibited a preoccupation with food, both during the starvation period and during their rehabilitation phase. Sexual interest was drastically reduced, and the volunteers showed signs of social withdrawal and isolation. The participants reported a decline in concentration, comprehension and judgment capabilities. There were also marked declines in physiological processes indicative of decreases in each subject's basal metabolic rate (the energy required by the body in a state of rest), reflected in reduced body temperature, respiration and heart rate. Some of the subjects exhibited edema in their extremities.

Emergency and long-term storage is like an insurance claim - it has to "work" when used. Sadly, we've found numerous examples of poorly manufactured food that will be near useless when needed. Most often, the shelf life is grossly inadequate due to poor packaging (cheap materials) and/or lack of oxygen absorbers and the food quality deteriorates rapidly. We've also seen many instances of bad taste (to absolutely terrible tasting food we could not eat), making the food inedible, and the most ubiquitous complaint now is highly repetitive "meals" which offer low-calories and a ridiculous levels of repetition.


Storable and Emergency Food Review Websites

We are not aware of a single storable review website that we can recommend for accurate, complete and honest information. Not yet - and we've looked for over 25+ years.

Many of them pretend to be impartial, but their affiliate marketing links reveal something else altogether. Many of them make various claims that are simply untrue and inaccurate. The "comparison" foods are either never tested, they misrepresent what they find, make outright false claims about packaging, shelf life, suitability, and pick and choose only from those comparison companies that they want to downgrade. Of course, many of these downgraded food suppliers really are pretty bad, but that's only part of the problem we have with these so-called "review" websites, they're grossly inaccurate.

Their "testing" isn't done properly (biased, uncontrolled conditions, impartial participants), they're not engaging in any kind of repeatable testing (non-scientific), faked "rating" systems, faked customer input, deliberately avoiding the largest companies and suppliers and numerous false claims intending to mislead viewers and prospective customers, with the ultimate goal of getting a customer to buy from one of their affiliate links which just happens to be their "best" test result.

Negative reviews are usually disappeared. Viewers that attempt to point out discrepencies and errors found published usually have their comments pointing out these flaws are swiftly erased from these websites. We know this for a fact as we ourselves have tried to correct the deep misrepresentations that we have found, but they are never allowed to see the light of day. We do not trust such sites that engage in these practices, disinformation and misleading claims are a huge problem.

It's also very clear to us that they have very little practical experience actually eating or preparing storable food. This is another area that indicates they are inexperienced and factually unqualified to pass a fair judgement on the suitability of the foods tested, or accurately assess nutrition, size, calories and servings of food kits and supplies. Much of the information they publish is just completely wrong and misleading. To make these sort of errors (again and again) reveals inexperience, unfamiliarity and lack of knowledge. Perhaps most disturbing is the bias and how spreading false claims will mislead so many.

We have also found numerous examples of food resellers (dealers and some manufactures) creating completely phony "storable food review" websites and try to pass them off to the public. These are just advertising scams and they seem to be everywhere. As you might expect, their food gets ranked #1. This is about as dishonest as it gets. The only thing we can say here is - don't trust these kinds of websites or the information they present, period. These type of websites come and go, especially when the public catches on to their scams.

Almost all of the "review" website that recommend food have NO CONTACT information. A few that do won't respond back. You can't reach them by any method, even if they post a "Contact" or "About Us" menu link. It doesn't go anywhere but to a page that brags about how great they are, but there is no email address, no phone number, no way to contact anybody. This is more proof that these sites are just scams.

Unfortunately, reliability and reputation and consistency and integrity are seriously lacking online. Misinformation, advertising scams, outright deception and dishonesty abound. Do your own research but be cautious about what it actually true and what isn't.


Resellers, Dealers and Repackagers

This is the third source (and most common) for emergency food and storable food supplies and among the most problematic. Over the many years we've been in business, a great many dealers and "suppliers" have come and gone. The reasons are as follows: attempts to "get rich quick", combined with a lack of experience, lack of capital, bad management, poor suppliers, poor products (customer complaints), poor customer support, varying levels of dishonesty and misrepresentation, failure to compete and lack of customers and overall incompetence.

We have found numerous false "100% non-GMO" claims (with no supporting documentation or evidence), fake "laboratories", falsified testing, inaccurate "no MSG" claims, multiples uses of different company names, website domains, high levels of sodium, high percentage of "filler" products, low calorie levels (what we call "starvation units"), improper "servings" counts, misleading "cost per servings" calculations, poor product selection, limited varieties in kits, numerous affiliate links and blatant examples of dishonesty and misrepresentations.

We've also have NEVER found a company that claims their products are "Organic" willing to provide ANY certification, documentation or evidence that the products are actually certified. 99% of these inquires simply go unanswered, and the tiny 1% are deflected with "we'll get back to you" responses. Labeling a product "organic" is simply a sales tactic, but don't be fooled - ASK for certification (and be prepared for a long wait) because it is highly likely you'll never get a response. These tactics are designed to deflect honest inquiries and generate sales by "false labeling".

Many dealers tried to cash in on the growing "survival" theme, especially during Y2K and later on with the 2012 (Mayan Calender prophecies). All of these companies have failed to our knowledge. Since then, a new meme has risen which we term the "faketriot" movement. Offering patriotic Americans storable food supplies and emergency gear, some have resorted to nefarious tactics of falsifying FEMA letters, phony claims of impending martial law, economic collapse, prophesy fulfillment, claims of the End Times and more - pretty much anything you can imagine to try and sell their products. In effect, the old and far more honest "survivalist" movement has been completely taken over by this newly founded faketriot movement, co-opting what used to be practical skills, knowledge, experience and wisdom for product promotions.

We have not found any of these type of dealer and reseller sites and sources to be honest, accurate or fair. Several of these same dealers have setup their own phony "food storage review" websites. Their products are generally highly priced, provide insufficient calories and nutrition, do not last as long as advertised and we find the practice of preying upon real patriots despicable. All customers deserve honesty and respect in our view, not phony claims thinly disguised to help advertise a product.

Emergency Food Kits

There is a huge area of misleading "kit" sizes, nutrition, total calories and "servings" also found. For many years many food kits were advertised to last specific amounts of time which when computed using essential daily calories (2000) were all found to be grossly inadequate - with some kits having as few as 400 calories per day! This is still a huge problem area with some dealers and resellers. Unsuspecting customers will discover that they will consume the food at a far faster rate than advertised to maintain essential health and nutrition, making these kits extremely expensive (you would need 3 - 4 times as many kits as claimed to last over the advertised period). This has resulted in actual lawsuits by disgruntled customers suing these companies who belatedly discovered after the fact that they grossly misrepresented their products.

We've even seen some truly silly claims that allege that all the information they have on their food products "cannot be published" because it would be "impossible" to do so. This is a tactic to convince shoppers that they can be trusted - by withholding information!

We've done the computations, and the direct comparisons on prices, product selection, repetitions, calories and claims. Nearly all of this food is not what you would normally eat. And that is a HUGE problem. You are literally "stuck" with eating their limited "menu" food items over and over again, which is highly repetitious. We know from experience from eating food storage supplies for many years - this does not work in real life. You need the option to choose what you eat, and how much to prepare. Nobody wants to eat the same thing every day for months on end.

We have found very few "real" food manufacturers, suppliers and dealers that we consider sufficiently experienced and reputable. We do not consider most of these other companies found online to actually be quality food suppliers due to the problems and issues listed above. Nearly all of them exhibit some or even all of these issues. This is the reason we do not carry these brands.

Ultimately, what truly "matters most" is are you getting enough calories? And what about nutrition? Do you want to subsist on something like wheat all day long which has a high weight / high density, or fillers like rice and drink mixes which are high weight and density but nutritionally deficient? These foods meet the "weight" claims by being heavy and cheap, but they're a lousy choice for your only food source. Claims of "value" by this method is not only inaccurate but will lead to a misguided purchasing decision. Nobody buys food on a cost per weight like this. It's nonsensical and ridiculous.

There is also a ploy to get you to ignore the real food servings represented in food kits. “Cost per pound” valuations are meaningless because different types of food (and nutrition / calorie contents) all have different prices per pound. Meat cost far more than potatoes - or rice - or pasta and even these food products do not compare amoung themselves on a cost-per-pound basis. The "cost per pound" claims are hiding critical information and selling you the cheapest per pound products available and trying to sell food as a "per pound value". This makes no sense at all. It's yet another gimmick instead of just telling the truth - buy a variety of real food for real nutrition that allows anyone to eat whatever they want, when they want and how much they want.

Taste, nutrition and variety is why people eat food (even in survival situations), and how many calories you consume to stay healthy is the real cost. The actual number of calories and their nutritional value to keep you alive and healthy is what matters the most in any situation. Variety is very important and that's how people eat now. Variety also give you better nutrition and less food fatigue - which is a very real consideration should you eat any of these storable food products for long periods of time as advertised. They're actually hoping you won't eat their food - because it would reveal the truth if you did. Many of these foods are nutrionally deficient, many taste terrible, nearly all are very repetitive and the servings sizes are quite small and very low in actual calories.

Here at Food Assets - we eat what we sell. We incorporated our food into our daily diet decades ago and that's why we know what works and what doesn't. We've also tried 30 day experiments to exist on just pre-packaged food supplies and found it severely lacking, highly repetitious and unsatisfying (tedious). We abandoned the notion that pre-packaged food "meals" are nutritionally adequate for long term food emergencies, because they're simply not.


Food Buckets and Kits or Totes

Food bucket kits and totes are NOT recommended for most food storage programs.

Nearly all kits and totes exhibit these problems: very low calories per "meal", highly repetitive meals (poor selection), poor nutrition, and very few menu choices. Each of these we've assessed weighs almost nothing - a very good indication of how much real food is inside! They're also pretty expensive for what you actually get. Read the linked article above for full details on why we do not recommend these.

The storable food industry is now plagued with sellers of these "food buckets" that should only be considered for a few days of "survival food" at best. Many of them will not last the time their advertised for - and eating this poor selection and variety every day for months on end would actually drive you crazy. We know - we tried to do this ourselves and we learned what some of these advertisers won't tell you. It does not work as a daily and only food source, which is a direct contradiction to the claims made.

If you want REAL food - then shop for real food in #10 cans or bulk food in 5 gallon buckets that can be eaten every day, all year long. ALL the reputable food storage companies only package their long-term food in these durable containers because this is actually what works over the duration. Everyone else tries to sell you something that won't work as advertised. They're basically gimmicks. They're literally hoping you will never have to experience what it is actually like to eat their food every day.

We have been eating food storage food now for over 25+ years. It will last, and it will work and it doesn't contain a lot of uneccessary ingredients and strange menu items or repetitious "meals" that will quickly bore you and your family. You can make up any meal that you might want. There is no need to wait for a disaster to enjoy your food storage either - you even incorporate this into your daily diet right now. You will gain valuable experience and appreciation for what your food storage can provide you, every day.

Here are a couple of points to remember - the fake "scare" stories, shell companies, scams, conspiracy and ridiculous claims being used to lighten your wallet have nothing to do with food storage, reliability, suitability, shelf life, healthy eating or keeping your family safe in disaster. When you see this kind of propaganda being used to sell food storage - WATCH OUT!  These are not the signs of a real food company.

We have seen hundreds of companies spring up to cash in on the "survival" theme in the past 25+ years, exploiting marketing propaganda and disinformation to sell questionable food supplies that will not provide anywhere near the required nutrition to keep you and your family safe in a real disaster. Many have disappeared over the years, but the same profiteer tactics to scam you and your wallet still remain.

Additional external links worth reading:

Mountain House Leads Global Market by Gigantic Margin (also note the smallest market share)

The Inside Story Of The Charlatan Who Duped The Nation’s Top Conservatives

Ripoff Reports False Claims about 100% GMO FREE Certification

Apocalypse Chow: We Tried Televangelist Jim Bakker's 'Survival Food'

Mountain House Educates Consumers on the Presence of High Oxygen Levels In Competitors Products

Here's How Gross Emergency Food Rations Are

Genetic Literacy Project: Mike Adams: Natural News, “everyone’s favorite über-quack #1 anti-science websit

Wise Food Class Action Lawsuit

Wise Food Settlement Agreement

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Very Important - Mountain House has issued a press release regarding independent lab tested high oxygen content in Wise Foods. Wise Foods has oxygen levels 110 times higher then Mountain House. This is a huge and critical food storage issue. Please read the entire press release here (pdf file).

The following statements are from Columbia Food Laboratories, who conducted third party testing on Wise Foods and Mountain House products:

"Oxygen Levels in Wise Company Products were 110 Times Higher Than Mountain House. Mountain House commissioned Columbia Food Laboratories to test 30 samples of dehydrated and freeze dried meals from Wise Company as well as 30 samples of comparable Mountain House freeze dried meals. The results were staggering. Average oxygen levels in Wise Company products were 18.25%, nearly the 21% level found in the atmosphere and 110 times higher than the average 0.16% oxygen found in Mountain House products. The most alarming part is that Wise Company products were manufactured in April of 2012 and already exhibit near-atmospheric levels of oxygen, which would not provide a 25-year shelf life."

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It is actually quite shocking for us to review what others are claiming. We've yet to find a single site that has the proper documentation regarding GMO labeling and testing. This is being done to fool buyers into thinking they're getting something that isn't actually there. Because there is no actual regulation of this sort of thing, these kinds of scams and others like it continue to proliferate.

We always say "do the math" to prove any claims being made. When the math simply doesn't add up on price, calories, selection or length of time the food is advertised to last, there's something wrong. We strongly encourage every shopper to become educated on how to begin a proper food storage program.

Oftentimes we have found that the math is "fudged" by making their suggested serving size extremely small so as to inflate the numbers in order to make the product appear more favorable. We have seen claims of 1/3 to 1/4 of a cup per serving - ask yourself, would your appetite be satisfied eating a meal based on a 1/3 cup as your only "meal"? In some cases, it is not even physically possible for the containers to hold the number of servings being advertised! More often, "servings" figures are inflated with tons of fillers such as drink mixes, salt, popcorn, etc., because these items are cheap, heavy, and create the illusion of more servings in a kit. Some are so bad that it is flat out embarrassing to think that thousands of well meaning customers are being literally ripped off.

What is going to happen when these customers actually go to use those units? They will quickly run out of food, but the need for daily healthy nutrition will still be there, and now in the midst of a emergency they will belatedly discover that they have been hoodwinked. You need a decent amount of calories with proper nutrition to stay healthy -- and you need these facts right up front, before making a purchase.

The age old rule in life still exists:

You get what you pay for.

Another rule to remember:

Buyer Beware!

It's simple economics, and

if something looks too good to be true......it probably is.