TEST RESULTS

The following information was taken directly from the technical manual entitled:

"Creating the Complete Food Storage Program"

Written & Researched By: Skipper Clark Copyright©1996

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is going to undertake the awesome task of securing a complete year supply of food.
This manual is intended to be a guide to creating a long-term food storage plan that may be stored for many years.

Copies of this Technical Manual may be ordered for $15 + $4 Shipping & Handling
by sending cash, check, money order to:

Sierra Sun Publishing
P.O. Box 6209
Oroville, CA. 95966

As I stated in the introduction, I have sold the products of two companies, Alpine Aire Foods and Walton Feed. Walton Feed is a major packager preparing foods under several labels. I have personally spoken with either the owner or General Manager of every packaging company.

My testing has shown a lack of professionalism in the industry that is astounding. Only the Mountain House and Vacu-Dry Company consistently produce a product with low oxygen levels. The U.S. Military has established a figure of 2% oxygen content in the headspace gases as the maximum allowable for the oxygen-reduced foods they purchase. I spoke to an industry expert, who told me the 2% level is quite achievable with today's equipment and methods. Since Mountain House and Vacu-Dry consistently achieve this level, there is no reason to accept a higher oxygen level as acceptable. Remember, the oxygen content has a direct relationship to the shelf life - the lower the oxygen level, the longer most products will store. I sent a copy of this chapter to each company evaluated and asked them to respond to the evaluation of their company if they wished to. I agreed to give their remarks in an unedited form, but no company chose to respond.

One factor to consider when buying prepackaged instead of doing it yourself is shipping cost. If I were a consumer, I would certainly look at doing my own packaging of the heavy items - beans and grains, and use the professionals as a source of dehydrated and freeze-dried products.

VACU-DRY® (PERMA PAK®)

The Vacu-Dry® Corporation of Sebastopol, CA has been producing quality storage products for many years. The Perma Pak® Company distributes their products and it is the Perma Pak® name you will see on the can. I believe Vacu-Dry is the source for most low-moisture fruits other storage companies package.

Perma Pak® continuously monitors the O2 levels and once every two days of production tears apart a can looking for imperfections and to determine that the sealer machine is still in alignment. My testing showed an O2 level of less than 1%. The company vacuum packs and flushes the cans with nitrogen and also uses an oxygen absorber packet. I have eaten several Perma Pak® products that were older than twenty years but were still quite palatable! I think one reason for the professionalism of Vacu Dry®/Perma Pak® is that they are a large company that serves the needs of the food industry, they aren't just a niche company serving the small storage food market. Unfortunately they do not have as large a product line as other companies, but what they do sell is of the highest quality.

Recommendation: Buy the vegetable stew blend, whole egg mix, milk powder, apple sauce and soup base. These are products you will most likely not be packaging yourself and are important to be packaged correctly.

MOUNTAIN HOUSE

This company is the only other packager I can given unconditional approval to. They have a quality control program in place and regularly test their products for oxygen content. They are a subsidiary of the 7 Up Company and are a contractor supplying food to the military. They exclusively sell freeze-dried foods and their #10 cans are sold by several companies. To taste test their products, buy their backpacking pouches at Wal Mart. They sell freeze-dried beef patties and beef sausage patties, items that would be nice to include in a storage plan.

Mountain House continually monitors the O2 levels and pack their cans using the vacuum-nitrogen flush method. They claim their products will last fifteen years. I do believe this claim. However, I requested the test data to substantiate these claims but never received any. You can get nutritional data on all their products and can order directly from the company if varieties are purchased by the case and the order totals at least $350. Call them at 800-414-9324 for details. Orders are shipped out within 3 business days of receiving payment. (Shipping is 3 weeks, Yellow Freight)

Recommendation: Purchase their backpacking food in 2 person pouches from Wal Mart. This food is great for short-term emergencies. Don't purchase large amounts of freeze-dried foods unless you can afford it.

ALPINEAIRE

This company sells freeze-dried, dehydrated, and bulk food items. For legal reasons I am restricted from discussing anything about this company. If you are considering a purchase from this company, please ask for test results of their products first.

Recommendation: I cannot recommend dealing with this company.

COUNTRY HARVEST

This company sells dehydrated and bulk items. They do no ongoing testing of their products. When I first did my testing, their products were under 4% oxygen level. However, further testing revealed their oxygen content had soared, 13% was my finding. What happened is they were having severe financial difficulty and had to close their plant and move operations.

Recommendation: I cannot recommend dealing with this company.

READY RESERVE / SAM ANDY

I include both companies under one heading, because Ready Reserve also packages the Sam Andy line. They use the vacuum/nitrogen flush method, but don't achieve an O2 level as low as some companies who have used the same packaging methods. I tested food products packaged by Arrowhead Mills (no longer selling long term food storage) that use the same canning method as Ready Reserve. Arrowhead Mills consistently achieve an O2 level below 1%, so there is no reason why Ready Reserve cannot duplicate this results. They do not use oxygen absorbers in there packaging. Their O2 levels are around 5%. They do not test the oxygen content or moisture levels of their products.

Recommendation: I cannot recommend dealing with this company.

WALTON FEED/NITRO PAC / EMERGENCY ESSENTIALS / PREPAREDNESS SYSTEMS OF NEVADA / OTHERS

Walton Feed is a company that sells products under their own label and packages them for Nitro Pac, Emergency Essentials and others. They have done no testing of their products for years until I notified them of my findings. The label on their #10 cans claimed that their products were 99.5% oxygen free, when in fact the levels averaged around 6% oxygen content. I sold their products until I discovered they had problems with their #10 cans. I notified the company that I was suspending sales of their #10 cans until their problem was fixed. In turn, they suspended all sales to me. To the credit of the company, they spent a great deal of money testing their products once they realized they had a problem. To their discredit, their manager Stephen Portella, cut my association with his company. He told me he couldn't be sure that I wouldn't find other problems with his products in the future. This doesn't sound like someone who is truly concerned about the quality of his product. They do package foods in one form I can recommend, the Super Pail. The Super Pail is a 6 gallon plastic bucket with lid, a heavy duty mylar bag inside filled with food, heat sealed shut after vacuuming and nitrogen flushing. Note: just before going to press, I decided to retest Walton products with their new oxygen absorber packaging. They have switched from using one 350cc oxygen absorber packet to a 750cc size packet. The two cans I tested came back 1.6% and 2% oxygen levels. These are acceptable levels, though not as low as those achieved by Perma-Pak®. I still have a couple of reservations. The oxygen absorber packet manufacturer recommends that cans be gas flushed to reduce the strength of the vacuum that is produced when using their OAP's. The problem is cans can potentially deform because of the vacuum. Also, I question their commitment to an on going testing program - a necessary step to insure quality.

Recommendation: Their Super Pail packaging is great! I also like the fact they sell a line of organically grown foods. I am reluctant to recommend the purchasing of products canned in #10 cans.

This concludes my analysis of the companies serving the food storage industry. If you would like to have products tested contact: Matt Damman, c/o Pillsbury Test Laboratory, 330 University Ave. SE, M.S. 9751, Minneapolis, MN 55414 (612)330-1802 Fax: (612)330-8266.

If I were planning on making a major purchase of storage foods, I would decide what the minimum percentage of oxygen in the cans is that I would accept. I would recommend a 2% level, but perhaps it could be somewhat higher. Get an agreement in writing that if the cans are found to be higher than what is agreed on, the company will refund you your payment and pay for all the shipping costs incurred. I believe having people take this measure will have a profound impact on the industry, forcing companies to become more careful in their methods. Lets face it, the only unique feature storage food companies can offer the consumer is a unique packaged product and when they can't get this right, they don't deserve the business.

Results of Oxygen Levels From Tests of Professionally Packaged Foods.

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