Most people wouldn’t want to eat food that’s been sitting around for decades, but one man has documented himself doing just that. YouTuber Steve Thomas found a collection of army rations from World War 1 and decided to try them out.
In a video, Thomas decided to test a well-preserved US Amry emergency food ration that dated back to 1906. The food, which included meat paste and chocolate, was incredibly preserved and perfectly edible today – 114 years after its production.
Steve Thomas is familiar with old rations and actually dedicates his YouTube channel to documenting ration reviews and sharing facts, history, and more on rations.
Beyond just opening the old rations and diving into their history, he actually eats them. He explained, “I’ll eat just about anything! Provided it passes a reasonable visual/smell/taste test.”
In the video, he pulls out an old vacuum-sealed ration from Word War 1 (1906). He struggles to open it, but finally gets the food out and it’s surprisingly well-kept. The paper holding the food is in perfect condition and the food, itself, looks like it couldn’ve been produced this year.
The first thing he tried was pemmican, a Native American meal made primarily of dried, ground meat and fat. Then, he pulled out some chocolate that looked strangely delicious. After trying a piece, he said, “That doesn’t taste bad at all.”
It seems to have really stood the test of time. Beyond being well-preserved, it also contained 2,000 calories and the nutrition needed to keep a grown man alive and thriving for a day. As Thomas said, the preserving they did with the canned meal was truly years ahead of their time.
After preparing the meal according to the package directions, he concluded that it was “not bad.”
Watch the vide below: