Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought the 72 hour package directly from them almost 2 years ago (easy to find their website online). At that time - and several times since then - they offered the 72 hour pack FREE with the customer just paying shipping. I don't remember what the shipping charge was (per 72 hour pack) but it was less than the $26 listed here. I was a little tentative to purchase it because I couldn't find on their website the list of ingredients but I figured for the price I could take a chance. As a PSA let me tell you what is in 2 of the meal's nutritional content. 1. GRANNY'S HOMESTYLE POTATO SOUP: Diced dehydrated potatoes, creamer (palm oil, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate - a milk derivative), disodium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, sodium hexametaphosphate and silicon dioxide, bleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzyme), dehydrated potato flakes (potato, monoglycerides, sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, sodium bisulfite, and BHA to preserve freshness), corn starch, onion, chicken stock (corn syrup, salt, corn starch, hydrolyzed corn and soy protein, rendered chicken fat, sugar, onion powder, disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate, spices, turmeric, parsley, silicon dioxide), sugar, natural flavoring, onion powder, whey, parsley flakes, turmeric, garlic powder, caramel color, dehydrated onion. Taste is ...... just ok, bland but salty. Of course if you are in a real emergency with no electricity, refrigeration, and little food available it may taste great. 4 servings per pack Per serving - 270 cal. 90 cals fat. 440mg Sodium. 3gm sugar. 5gm protein Allergens: Milk, Soy, and Wheat. BLUE RIBBON CREAMY CHICKEN RICE: Rice (parboiled long grain rice, enriched with ferric orthophosphate (iron), niacin, thiamin mononitrate (thiamin), and folic acid (folate)), creamer (palm oil, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), dipotassium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, sodium hexametaphosphate, and silicon dioxide), corn starch, natural chicken flavor, onions, low sodium chicken base (corn syrup solids, corn starch, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, salt, rendered chicken fat, sugar, onion powder, disodium inositate and disodium guanylate, spices, turmeric, dehydrated parsley, and silicon dioxide added to prevent caking), onion powder, natural flavoring, parsley flakes, turmeric. Taste is.... just ok, bland but salty. 4 servings per pack. Per serving - 490 cal. 210 fat cal. 660mg sodium. 1gm sugar. 8gm protein Allergens: Milk and Soy. I looked this over to correct mistakes. I apologize if there are any major errors. The other items in my 72hour packs were a single pack (8 servings) Strawberry Cream of Wheat (was supposed to be Maple Oatmeal - I didn't mind the difference - I think they might change the mix once in awhile but it was technically an 'error' based on the label) and a multi serving (up to 30) coffee packet. I personally do not like items that have a lot of 'flakes' in them, be it potato flakes mixed w/ a powder or noodles mixed with a powder. I don't like maltodextrin, corn starch, hydrolyzed ANYTHING, or a lot of the other ingredients listed. BUT it does probably make it cheaper to buy and if money is an issue and you want to have some emergency food then your choices are limited, but I'm sorry - a consumer should be able to easily find the ingredients. If they are not included with the product description there is a reason for that (yes, people will look at the ingredients and not purchase the item). If you are a single person it is almost impossible to divide the servings up and only make 1 or 2 servings at a time. The calorie count is adequate. The sodium level is too high for me but this is generally true across the board w/ emergency food. The logic is that if this is a real emergency you will be doing a lot of manual labor and you will need salt, but I would rather they (all the companies) reduce the salt content and provide salt packets for people to make it to their own taste. I'm always shocked by the number of people who say they had to ADD salt - the future generation of dialysis patients are making those statements. I cannot speak to the longevity of the product as it has only been ~ 2 yrs. I am using this up and replacing it with another company's product. I am not here to promote another company but if you do your research and you look at all the information available to you on the products contents plus independent reviews you should be able to decide for yourself what is right for you. Why am I writing this review now? Simple. I didn't go shopping this w/e. I'm feeling lazy, the weather outside is 'frightful', and I'm hungry. Anyway, decide for yourself. Sorry to say I will not be purchasing additional products from Patriot Pantry.