Home Canning Magazine


History of Food Preservation

Necessity has long been the mother of invention. It was necessity which has led to the development of home canning as we know it today.

The Beginning

Early in the nineteenth century, during the Napoleonic wars, the French army suffered disastrous losses due to starvation and bad weather conditions. To solve the situation, the French government offered a prize of 1200 francs for the invention of a food preservation process.

1809

N. Nicholas Appert, a confectioner, claimed the prize in 1809. Appert preserved meats, vegetables, fruits and even milk by placing them in widemouth glass bottles then carefully corking and heating them in boiling water. He paid meticulous attention to the quality of the foods to be canned and to the canning process. Appert observed that heat applied to foods sealed in a container, which was impervious to air, had the peculiar quality of preventing the food from spoiling. While he was correct in assuming that spoilage was caused by fermentation and the presence of air, Appert did not know that he was destroying microorganisms. In 1810, he published his famous work Le livre de tous les ménages ou l'art de conserver pendant plusieurs annees toutes les substances animales et végétales.

1819

Englishman Peter Durand conceived and patented the idea of using canisters made of thin sheets of steel instead of glass bottles.

1860

Frenchman Louis Pasteur proved that microorganisms were responsible for fermentation. Until this time, bacteria was not associated with food spoilage.

1895

H. L. Russell, working at the University of Wisconsin in the United States, connected bacteria growth with gaseous odours. He initiated the development of recommendations involving specific heat processing times and temperatures to destroy bacteria in specific foods.

1898

Spoilage of sweet corn was traced to imperfect sterilization by Prescotte and Underwood at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Containers

Today's popularity of canned food both commercial and home canned foods can be attributed to refinements in the art of container manufacture cans, special glass jars and unique closures.

Mason Jars

Mason is the 'generic' name for a special type of glass jar designed for home canning. These jars are constructed of heavier weight glass than commercial food jars. Consequently, they can withstand processing temperatures in boiling water canners or pressure canners and can be used several times. This type of jar was invented and patented in the United States in 1858 by John Mason. Although the U.S. Patent expired in 1879, glass manufacturers have continued to use the mason name to distinguish these "home canning" jars from those designed for one-time commercial use.

Unique Closures

In 1881, Alfred Bernardin invented the first metal closure for commercial glass-pack canning. This invention lead to the establishment of the company which now carries his name. In 1935, Bernardin Ltd. began producing a two-piece metal closure system for home canning.

Bernardin's two piece metal lid consists of a screw band in combination with a Snap Lid. Two piece lids allow consumers to hear, see and feel an airtight seal on their home canned products.

Over the years, Bernardin has improved the profile of the lid as well as the performance of the sealing
compound to enhance both the dependability and ease of handling of these unique closures. The Snap Lid is constructed of food-grade coated tin -- the top coating is an attractive gold lacquer with the underside being coated with a white acid-resistant enamelwhich comes in contact with the food. A groove in the underside of the lid contains the special sealing compound which is essential to form airtight seals.



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