Mountain House meals making me sick

[Brett]

I have been camping on 2 weekend trips over the last month and a half. Both times I have eaten Mountain House meals and have gotten really sick. I have vomiting, diarrhea, the works. The first trip I had the eggs with sausage crumbles and this weekend I had the beef stew. Don't get me wrong, the meals taste good but I just don't understand. Anyone else having problems? I am really bummed out about this because I have bought many meals for my food storage. I guess I should have tried before buying.
The purpose of this thread is NOT to bash Mountain House. I have searched the Internet but could not find any similar experiences.
Also the water used both times came right from store bought bottled water.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Never had an issue and I've eaten a TON of them (possibly literally). You might start looking at the ingredient list and looking for correlations, and you might also look into seeing if you have a sodium sensitivity as they do have a lot of sodium.

 

[churchmouse]

WE have and use them with no issues. I can not feed to grand daughter due to food allergy's. This may be what you are experiencing.

 

[Brett]

Yeah the sodium is really high in these and the sodium thing crossed my mind. I don't have any problems with sodium that I know of but maybe I will get checked out the next time at the doctor.

 

[Brett]

I also have no known food allergies.

 

[giovani]

My friend ate them for 5 months straight while he walked the PCT and he had no issues.
After eating them for that long he said he never wants see another one but they didn't make him sick.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Various food allergies can develop as one gets older and as one gets exposed to something that is not directly related which is why tracking it down is useful.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

What container did you boil the water in? I used a new boil bottle that wasn't completely cleaned out and I got sick. I'm thinking it was an industrial solvent or coating on the boil bottle./

 

[Brett]

What container did you boil the water in? I used a new boil bottle that wasn't completely cleaned out and I got sick. I'm thinking it was an industrial solvent or coating on the boil bottle./

We used a Kelly Kettle to boil our water. The Kelly Kettle has been use on several occasions. I was the only one sick in our group. You guys are giving me some good suggestions.

 

[K_W]

Where did you get the water?

If on site? Did you boil the water you mixed into them first?

 

[teddy12b]

Brett,
Have you had any similar problems with similarly packaged food? For example, have you tried Wise Foods on your trips?

 

[Dragon]

I just had the Beef Stroganoff with Noodles night before last and had no problems at all. I'm guessing that it is a food allergy considering the fact it has happened twice under the same circumstances.

 

[Trigger Time]

If there was something (bacteria) in the water it would normally take afew days for you to suffer effects. But a chemical in the water or cooking pot could be immediate. Alsoany allergies you may have. Or don't yet know of.

 

[Brett]

Where did you get the water?

If on site? Did you boil the water you mixed into them first?

As I said above, the water was taken from bottled water bought at the store. Then I boiled the water.

 

[Brett]

Brett,
Have you had any similar problems with similarly packaged food? For example, have you tried Wise Foods on your trips?

This is a good suggestion. I have not had any other similar food on any kind of trips. I might want to look into Wise foods. I have not given up yet on Mountain house. Probably later this week I'll just try a few other types of foods from Mountain house. Maybe I'll try a desert next. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

 

[teddy12b]

Have you tried any MRE's and had similar experience with them?

 

[PistolBob]

Are you static camping or backpacking? Frankly I would not take any freeze dried food with me on a campout...backpack trip yes, but not camping. The weight savings on a campout just isn't worth the cost of not having tasty food.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Have you tried eating it when you are NOT camping, just to make sure that it IS the food and not something else you were exposed to while camping.

 

[Slawburger]

Dessicant pack intact?

 

[BravoMike]

I also have no known food allergies.

My son has a bad casein (protien found in dairy) allergy and the symptoms that you listed above are what happens to him within minutes of having the smallest amount of dairy. He also gets hives and some swelling. Did you get any type of rash or swelling? It may be just a small amount of an ingredient that could be making you sick. How quickly after consuming this are getting sick? It may also be a food "sensitivity" and not an allergy. Also, I would be looking for similar ingredients in those two meals to see what may be making you sick.