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History and Evolution of Food Processing

Food processing has existed since prehistoric times with techniques like cooking, fermenting, drying and salting foods. The mass production of processed foods began in the late 18th century to supply militaries and expanded in the 19th century with inventions like canning. Processed foods became more advanced in the 20th century with new technologies and targeted convenience foods at consumers.

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Arman Jan MANGILIT
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492 views2 pages

History and Evolution of Food Processing

Food processing has existed since prehistoric times with techniques like cooking, fermenting, drying and salting foods. The mass production of processed foods began in the late 18th century to supply militaries and expanded in the 19th century with inventions like canning. Processed foods became more advanced in the 20th century with new technologies and targeted convenience foods at consumers.

Uploaded by

Arman Jan MANGILIT
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MANGILIT, ARMAN JAN T.

BTLED3

HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF FOOD PROCESSING

HISTORY

Food processing has been around since prehistoric times. We know that humans
have been using fire for at least 250,000 years, which also introduced cooking as a
form of food processing. Cooking improved the safety, digestibility, and palatability of
food for prehistoric people. More complex types of processed foods appeared during
ancient and medieval times. These techniques included everything from fermenting
to sun-drying, pickling vegetables, salting and smoking meats, cheese-making,
bread baking, steaming vegetables, and more.

These basic food processing methods involved various chemical, enzymatic


changes to the food’s basic structure when it was in its natural form. This served
several purposes, but the most important being a barrier against microbial activity
that resulted in rapid food decay. Processed foods made up a significant part of the
human diet when eating fresh foods was impossible. This included everything from
regular seasonal changes, as well as crop failures, or even wars.

Salt, for example, was an especially common type of food preservative used
throughout the ancient world. Sailors and marching armies, in particular, relied
heavily on salted, smoked, and other such processed foods until the introduction of
various canning methods. Both archeological and written historical evidence point to
these food processing methods and preservation across the ancient world. This
applied to the Greek, Egyptian, and Roman civilizations, and other parts of Europe,
the Americas, or Asia. These were tried and tested methods of food processing that
remained virtually unchanged until the Industrial Revolution. But even before then,
there were some examples of ready-to-eat meals like the famous Scottish Haggis or
the Cornish pasty.

EVOLUTION

The mass-scale production and processing of food were only introduced in the late
18th and 19th centuries and to cater to the military in large part. It was in 1809 when
Nicolas Appert invented the technique of hermetic bottling. This was used to
preserve food for French troops and contributed to future processing and
preservation techniques such as tinning and canning. These were invented only a
year later by Peter Durand. Even if it were expensive to produce and somewhat
hazardous because of the lead used, canned foods would soon become a staple
worldwide. About half a century later, in 1864, Louis Pasteur discovered
pasteurization. This technique significantly improved the quality and safety of
processed food and introduced better preservations for beer, wine, and milk. 
During the first half of the 20th century, Europe underwent severe malnourishment,
caused, in large part, by the economic depression, World War I, as well as the
onslaught of the influenza virus (the flu). As a result, mass food production began
focusing on sustaining Europe’s population. This included the reduction of food-
borne diseases, nutrient deficiencies, and malnutrition. This is achieved by providing
protein-rich, energy-dense, and vitamin-fortified foods to large sections of the
population. 

After World War II, the subsequent Cold War, the space race, and the rising
consumer society in the developed world, processed foods became even more
advanced. New technological innovations in the processed food industry, such as
spray drying, plate evaporators, freeze-drying, juice concentrate, artificial
sweeteners, coloring agents, and various preservatives such as sodium benzoate,
have ushered in a new era of food types in people’s diets. By the late 20th century,
reconstituted fruits and juices, instant soups, frozen meals, and MRE (meal, ready-
to-eat) military food rations were developed. Blenders, microwave ovens, and
rotimatics, among other such technologies from this same period, paved the way for
today’s convenience cooking. 

The second half of the 20th century saw a steep rise in convenience across North
America and Western Europe. Middle-class mothers and working wives were the
prime target market for most food processing companies. Often credited to Clarence
Birdseye, frozen foods saw their best success in juice concentrate and the so-called
TV dinners. Marketers used the perceived value of time to sell their “convenience
foods” to the postwar population to great effect. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the same
appeal is used today when it comes to ready-to-eat meals. 

SOURCE:

Seidel, K. (2021, April 9). The Evolution of the Processed Foods Industry. Cablevey®
Conveyors. https://cablevey.com/the-evolution-of-the-processed-foods-
industry/

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