Overview

At the beginning of the nineteenth century people relied on the same methods of preserving fresh food that their ancestors had used thousands of years before: drying, fermentation, salting, and chilling. By the end of the century a series of innovations had revolutionized food preservation, leading to new products, new markets, and new sources of food production.

Background

In order to survive primitive people had to preserve their precarious supply of food for as long as possible. One of the earliest preservation techniques was to dry meat, fish, or fruit in the sun or over a fire. Smoke added flavor to an often monotonous diet and also slowed spoilage. The ancient Egyptians and Romans stored wheat and...