It seems that the previous rumor relating to Government buying of emergency food has been just that, a rumor. Below is the text of a notice directly from Mountain House stating that they are indeed low on inventory, but that the reason is due to an overall increase in demand.
Notice From Mountain House
January 14, 2010
Mountain House
Like many other manufacturers that make emergency preparedness items, we have seen a significant increase in demand for products like ours. We are not able to make product fast enough to supply all of our dealers, so I will confirm that we had to temporarily stop selling to most of our can dealers. We are making can product and it is being shipped to small amount of dealers.
Our company does make product for the Government, but the they are not the reason why we are out of stock. This rumor seems to spark up often and that rumor is NOT true. All of our foil pouches are in stock. The 72 Hour Kit and 7-Day Kit is currently out of stock on our website, but again, we are making more kits and they are being shipped to all of our dealers. We hope to have all products back in stock sometime this Spring.
Thank you for asking.
Melanie
ETA: There continues to be reports of some employees telling customers that the shortage is indeed the result of Government buying, but the above is the company's official statement.