Emergency Food Buyer's Checklist: Read the Label Before You Buy

Emergency food buckets are sold by "servings." Servings are the least useful number on the label. A bucket with a big serving count can still leave your family short, because what keeps people going is calories, and a "serving" can be small.

This checklist is brand-neutral. It shows you what to read on any label, how to do the math for your own family, and which honest downsides to look for. Our picks are at the bottom, run through the same checklist. The free printable has a scorecard you can take shopping.

Step 1: Know Your Family's Daily Calories

Everything starts here. Our free 30-Day Food Storage Calculator works out a daily calorie total for your household from the number of adults and children, using 2,000 calories a day per adult (the FDA's general guide) and a 1,400-calorie planning figure per child. Your family's real needs may be higher or lower. Write that number down. You will use it in every step below.

Step 2: Read the Label the Right Way

For any bucket or kit, find these on the label or the maker's page and write them on the scorecard:

• ☐ Total servings in the bucket
• ☐ Calories per serving (or per pouch)
• ☐ Protein per serving
• ☐ How to prepare it: just add hot water, or cook it on a stove
• ☐ How much water it takes to prepare
• ☐ Allergens and special-diet labels (gluten-free, dairy, soy, nuts)
• ☐ The maker's shelf-life claim and the storage conditions it depends on

Step 3: Do the Math for Your Family

1. Calories in the bucket = the total calories on the label or the maker's page. If there is no total, multiply calories per serving by servings for each food and add them up.
2. Calories your family needs per day = the number from the calculator in Step 1.
3. Days this bucket feeds your family = calories in the bucket ÷ your family's daily calories.
4. Cost per 1,000 calories = the price you are quoted ÷ (calories in the bucket ÷ 1,000). Use this to compare two buckets fairly. We do not print prices here because they change; run the math at checkout.

Run the math and many buckets feed a family for fewer days than the front of the box suggests. ReadyWise, for example, says a four-person household would need four of its one-month bundles. That is fine, as long as you know it before the storm and not during it.

Step 4: Watch for These Honest Downsides

• Small servings. Two buckets with the same serving count can be far apart in calories. Compare calories.
• Low calories per day. Some "one month" kits run below what most adults need. Plan snacks and staples alongside them.
• Water you did not plan for. Just-add-water meals take water. Add it to your water total. Our Water Filter Chooser covers the backup line.
• Cooking you did not plan for. Some kits need a pot on a stove, not just hot water. Camp stoves and charcoal grills are for outdoor use only.
• Shelf life is a claim. Long shelf-life numbers depend on storage. Keep buckets cool, dry and off the floor, and follow the maker's label.
• Taste. Food nobody will eat is not food storage. Buy one pouch first.

Step 5: Our Picks, Through the Same Checklist

One or two per need. Paid links are marked. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Every food pick we carry is on our food gear page.

For the First 72 Hours

Mountain House Essential Assortment Bucket (paid link). 12 pouches and 22 total servings, gluten-free. Mountain House backs it with a 30-year taste guarantee. Just add water. Honest downside: the maker says it takes about 17 cups of water to prepare every meal in the bucket, and calories run about 350 to 520 per pouch (about 5,420 calories for the whole bucket, which is less than three days for one adult at 2,000 calories a day), so check the label rather than trusting "servings" alone.

For a Month of Backup

ReadyWise 1 Month Emergency Food Supply (2 buckets) (paid link). A 2-bucket set with 326 total servings in 41 pouches and about 62,540 calories by the maker's current count, with a claimed shelf life of up to 25 years. Most pouches just add water, but the pancake mix needs cooking. Honest downside: it is sized for one person for a month, so a family uses it as a pantry add-on. The maker also says to allow about 21 gallons of water to prepare the whole bundle.

Augason Farms 30-Day Emergency Food Supply Kit (paid link). 194 servings across 23 pouches in one pail, about 1,290 calories and 36 grams of protein per day, with a claimed shelf life of up to 25 years. Honest downsides: you prepare it by adding water and heating it on a stove, and at about 1,290 calories a day it runs below what most adults need. Plan extra snacks alongside it.

Get the Printable Scorecard

The free printable has the label checklist, the family math with blanks for your numbers, and a side-by-side scorecard for up to four buckets. Take it shopping. When you are ready to plan the whole month, read our 30-day emergency food supply plan, and for the first three days see our 72-Hour Emergency Food Supply guide. All of our free guides are on the free printable guides page.

Where This Advice Comes From

• Daily calorie targets: our 30-Day Food Storage Calculator (adults: FDA 2,000-calorie general guide; children: a 1,400-calorie planning figure within the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, Table A2-2, range for ages 2 to 11)
• Product details: each maker's own pages, as cited in our 72-Hour Emergency Food Supply guide

Last checked: October 11, 2026. Product details as of our 72-Hour Emergency Food Supply guide.