Frozen Food Technology

Frozen food has revolutionized the way people are able to receive and store foods like fruit, vegetables, convenience foods and meats. Based on freezing techniques from arctic communities, meats and fish were frozen in ice to last through the winter and was adopted to prevent spoilage in the 1700s and 1800s in the United States. While freezing and packaging technology has changed through the years, frozen food as we know it today was invented and popularized in the 1920s and 1930s.

Early Food Preservation

Freezing food was practiced in many parts of the world that had a climate that could support ice in winter months. Food was placed under freezing water and frozen into a block of ice to slow microbiotic growth and to prevent the reactions that cause food spoilage. As refrigeration was developed in the early 1900s, artificial means of freezing were promising but the food often tasted old. During the early days of refrigeration, frozen food was subjected to higher temperature freezing, at around zero degrees Celsius.

Quick Freezing

Before refrigeration units became widely available in homes in the early 1920s, cooling techniques were stagnant among food producers. Clarence Birdseye, a recent college graduate, was working in Labrador region of eastern Canada. In cold temperatures, the local native Inuits showed Birdseye how to freeze fish, duck and caribou. He came to understand that the very low temperatures at which the fish were frozen sped the freezing process, thus producing a much fresher and more desirable result when the fish was thawed.

Invention and Manufacturing

Birdseye took the technique home to New York in 1922 and began experimenting with freezing food at a local refrigeration company. His result was quick freezing of packaged foods but consumer interest waned. In 1925 Birdseye patented a new invention, which froze food under pressure between belts pumped with a brine solution to freeze vegetables and meats in their packaging. This procedure allowed the frozen foods to be easily sold to consumers. The invention took off, and he sold his company, the General Seafood Co., and patents to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Co. The resulting corporation was food giant General Foods.

Mass Marketing

Birdseye was the first individual to invest in insulated freezer trucks, which were required to get frozen food further distances from the manufacturing location, and eventually nationwide. As home refrigeration blossomed in the 1940s, frozen food was already being produced and sent to markets throughout the country.

Technology

Through the years since Birdseye's inventions were implemented, freezing technology has changed only slightly to accommodate plastic packaging and has been streamlined for faster production. Quick freezing methods have been adopted for use on entrees and convenience items, changing the way people view food since.

References

• USA Today - Clarence Birdseye
• History of Frozen Foods
• Older Cultures Freezing Food