The history of heat treatment on food

In contrast to food irradiation processes, heat treatment has been used in the preparation of foods for millennia.

The original concept of in-container sterilization of foods has come a long way since Nicholas Appert first introduced ‘the art of canning’ in 1810.

He eventually received a prize of 12,000 French francs from the French government for inventing a method for safety preserving foods for long term storage.

Nicholas Appert showed that the application of thermal treatment to foods contained in tightly closed cans was able to preserve them from spoilage.

About 50 years later it was Pasteur who gave sense to this procedure by discovering that microbes were responsible for the deterioration of foods and heat acted killing them.

While at the same period, Nestlé started the production of condensed milk and powdered milk by concentrating milk through evaporation.

In 1819, William Underwood of the United States started the first canning factory in Baltimore.

To preserve foods in boiling water took too long, requiring about 6 hours, therefore salt was added to the water bath which increased the boiling temperature, thereby shortening the processing time.

This followed by the discovery of the pressure cooker and later the autoclave, which has gone through subsequent improvement to result in today’s still retorts.

In 1945, researchers studied the effect of heating the germ, at various moisture levels for different periods in a hot air oven, on the enzyme activities and its stability during storage at 37 degree C in laminated metal foil.

FMC Corporation introduced the continuous agitating cookers in the 1950s, and at about the same time, Steriflamme process was developed in France.

Steriflamme is a flame sterilization process in which rapidly rotating cans pass through live flames at temperatures of about 2000 ° F.
The history of heat treatment on food

History of Food Preservation

During the 20th century the continued application of scientific research to food production has significantly changed the way the world eats.

Food preservation is as old as human civilization. Preservation of foods inhibits spoilage cause by bacterial growth, oxidation, insects or desiccation.

The Chinese reportedly preserved vegetables by fermentation in prehistoric times and Plinius preserved white cabbage in earthenware pots in Italy in the first century AD.

The earliest recorded instances of food preservation date back to ancient Egypt and the drying of grains and subsequent storage in seal silos.

Fermentation, oil packing, pickling, salting, and smoking are all ancient preservation technologies.

Refrigeration in caves or under cool water were also well known ancient techniques of food preservation.

But the potential of this particular food preservation technique was not fully realized until the 1900’s when Clarence Birdseye introduced frozen foods to the American public.

People in many parts of the world developed techniques for drying and smoking foods as far as 6000 BC. Microorganism need water to carry out their metabolic processes.

Ancient Mesoamericans used salt as a preservative for trade in fish and other food stuff over long distances, as well as for storing food for long periods of time.

Since Phoenician times (from around 1250 BC) the standard practice for preserving fish was to gut it, dry it and pack it in layers with salt.

The first dehydrator for drying fruits and vegetables was introduced in France in 1795.

In 1803, a French chef named Nicholas Appert invented a new technique for preserving food.

He prepared and preserved soup, beef with gravy, beans and pea. The French navy store it for three months, Then they tried it. The food was delicious and safe to eat.

When Appert published this method in 1810 he had no knowledge of bacteria. It took another 50 years and Louis Pasteur to elucidate the relationship between microorganism and the spoilage of food.

In 1854 Louis Pasteur began his investigation in wine. And pasteurization process of milk was begun in Germany and United States in 1880 and 1890 respectively.

Freezing did not fully develop until the 1950s. Freezing keeps food safe by slowing the movement of molecules, causing microbes to enter a dormant stage.

It extended periods of time because it prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause both food spoilage and foodborne illness; so frozen food is theoretically safe forever.

The term of irradiation appeared only around 1950s, but the technology can be traced back to the late 19th century.

Although food preservation has now reached a high standard at least in the developed countries, the quantities of food still spoiled are astonishing.

According to estimates, no less than 20% of foods produced never reached the consumer’s table because of attack beforehand by rodents, insects or microorganisms.
History of Food Preservation

Preservation of Foods by Heat: The History

Preservation of Foods by Heat: The History
Preservation of foods by heat may be considered as the first invented of preservation technology.

The origins of drying and chemical preservation by alcohol or acid (generated by fermentation) have been lost in history as is the use of ice.

Nicholas Appert, in the late 1700s, applied heat to acid and low acid foods sealed in bottles and eventually received a prize of 12,000 French francs from the French government or inventing a method for safety preserving foods for long term storage.

Appert established a food preservation business in 1812. Peter Durand in England, in the early 1800s, adopted Appert’s process to foods packed in tin coated steel canisters.

While the canisters were hand make, heating of foods in hermetically sealed, tinned steel containers, formed the basis for the first true manufacturing of acid and low acid convenience food products.

The tin can made heat preservation practical as metal containers were more compatible with package filling, sealing, heat processing and the subsequent rigors of storage and distribution.

Early heat preservation technology was constrained by the misconception that air caused food spoilage and by the lack of safe, reliable and properly instrumented steam pressure retorts.

Appert attributes his success at preserving foods by heat to the excellent packaging he developed using glass bottles of his own specification and his carefully prepared stoppers made from hand-cut and glued cork.

He assumed that air was responsible for the spoilage of food. His meticulous procedures for filling and sealing his glass bottles reflect this belief.

Appert was limited to boiling water baths for preservation and heating times were in the order of hours for some products.

Appert’s successor, his son, Raymond Chevallier Appert, adapted the steam autoclave so that packaged foods could be heated above 100 degree C.

The higher temperature allowed shorter heat treatment. Raymond Chevallier Appert could be considered among the first food engineers as he invented a manometer which allowed him to control steam pressure to provide temperatures accurate to 1 degree C.
Preservation of Foods by Heat: The History