| 1. Food Storage.
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 | Many consumers like to keep extra food on hand in case of an emergency. Our foods are great as part of an emergency storage supply.
Here are suggestions to help in planning: purchase your food from a reputable source, and mark the date the products were purchased on the pouch. We give our foods a 5-year shelf life, so plan to use the food within that period. Make sure the package seal is intact, and store in an airtight container, away from heat, moisture, and sunlight. Allow as much as 1 gallon of water per day per person - remember, water is most important. The RichMoor complete meals for 4 offer the best value and simplify meal planning. Choose from 6 different breakfasts, 4 lunches, and 7 dinners.
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| 2. What is the shelf life? |
| Our products keep for 5 years, if stored in a cool and dry location. After 5 years, appearance, and nutritional value may begin to decline. Any products with dairy, cheese, or tortilla chips will not keep as well as other food items. Once the package is opened it should be used within 24 hours. Freeze-dried or dehydrated ingredients exposed to air and moisture will deteriorate quickly.
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| 3. What is the difference between Natural High and RichMoor? |
| Our Natural High brand is an all natural, gourmet brand for the upscale and discriminating customer. We use ingredients like asparagus, snow peas, and wild rice, and combine them with spicy seasonings and unique sauces. Natural High contains no artificial ingredients or preservatives, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors - no artificial anything. Also, no MSG has been added, and no more added salt than is absolutely necessary for flavor. Natural High is considered to be the #1 brand in lightweight camping foods throughout outdoor shops nationally. In 1998, we added the Classics so you can enjoy your favorite homestyle dishes in a healthy, natural way.
Richmoor is best known for its old-fashioned style and family-oriented products such as spaghetti and apple brown betty. Most recipes originated years ago and have improved over time with new ingredients and better seasonings. Products range from breakfast, lunch, and dinner items in two and four person sizes to vegetables, desserts, trail snacks and complete meals for four. Overall, Richmoor offers the best tasting foods for a wide variety of customers at affordable prices. With the two brands, we offer a complete selection of lightweight foods.
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| 4. How is food freeze-dried? Are your products freeze-dried or dehydrated? Which is better? |
| In freeze-drying, the product is flash frozen in bite-size pieces. The frozen product is placed in very cold vacuum chambers and then the ice particles in the food are removed in a process known as sublimation. Sublimation removes 98% of the ice particles without affecting the taste, color, form and nutritional value of the food item. The cost of freeze-drying is very expensive and is usually done in large quantities to minimize costs.
In conventional dehydration, the food product moves through a drying chamber where air slowly removes the moisture over time. This occurs at low temperatures so that the nutritional profile is not greatly affected. Many products used at home are dehydrated in various forms.
Richmoor and Natural High combine both freeze-dried and dehydrated products, depending on the cost, optimal taste, texture and usage. Expensive ingredients like meats, shrimp, asparagus and other costly vegetables used are generally freeze-dried. Other ingredients such as apple or onion actually taste better dehydrated.
By utilizing both freeze-dried and dehydrated products, we offer products that taste fresh once they are reconstituted. Besides tasting better, our products offer good nutritional value at a reasonable price.
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| 5. Do your meats have U.S.D.A. approval? |
| Yes! Our plant is under regular federal inspection and meets all legal requirements for packaging meats and poultry.
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| 6. Why do you use foil packaging? |
| We use poly-laminated heavy foil outer bags to protect the contents. Doing so allows for reconstituting the product with boiling water inside the pouch. We also wrap the inner contents (meat and seasoning) inside for extra protection in mylar, using nitrogen to replace oxygen inside the bag. This extends the shelf life and prevents rancidity. We do not use clear packaging as the exposure of food to any type of light accelerates product deterioration. Our packaging may cost us more, but offers the best protection possible.
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| 7. How does higher elevation affect cooking time? |
| The boiling point for water drops one degree Fahrenheit for every 550 foot rise in elevation, so cooking time doubles for every 5,000 feet above sea level. Almost all Richmoor and Natural High products are instant to shorten cooking time. Presoaking and simmering ingredients may be helpful to minimize cooking time. Always cover pot while cooking so heat doesn't evaporate.
Pouches sometimes inflate at high altitudes, so puncture outer bag with a pin if you are traveling to higher elevations.
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| 8. What about nutritional values? |
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By careful selection of ingredients, we can achieve nutritional profiles close to either fresh or frozen products. We have nutritional information on all Natural High items and most RichMoor products printed on the back of the package.
To view or download nutrition info click here or visit Nutritional Information from our home page.
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