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QUIRKY SCIENCE (EP. 7)
EP. 7. Who came up with the idea of canned food? It began with a battle between French and British armies, two centuries ago. Napoleon Bonaparte faced many problems with his goal to dominate Europe, one of which was feeding a large and sprawling army. In 1809 Napoleon held a contest, with a prize of 12,000 francs for the person who could come up with the most innovative method of preserving food. The winner was Nicolas François Appert who submitted a method of boiling and sealing food in glass bottles. Well if the French were going to travel farther and farther, the British needed to invent something as well: canning. However, opening the cans was quite a challenge – soldiers worked with stones and bayonets and it was only 30 years later that someone designed the first can opener! Although cans travel much easier across a battlefield, for decades they would not only mysteriously explode, but would also cause the harshest diseases. But how could the scientists of those days know? It wasn't until 50 years after Appert that Louis Pasteur discovered why canning (generally) worked so well. By testing the influence of air on broths, he did away with the idea that things spoiled ‘spontaneously’ and launched his ‘germ theory’. Even though canned foods became safer, they didn’t taste any better. The ultra-lengthy boiling process was obviated with the help of pressure-cooking. And now, the future brings ‘zapped’ canned food, something called ‘raddaperization’. Does the name ring a bell?
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EP. 7. Who came up with the idea of canned food? It began with a battle between French and British armies, two centuries ago. Napoleon Bonaparte faced many problems with his goal to dominate Europe, one of which was feeding a large and sprawling army. In 1809 Napoleon held a contest, with a prize of 12,000 francs for the person who could come up with the most innovative method of preserving food. The winner was Nicolas François Appert who submitted a method of boiling and sealing food in glass bottles. Well if the French were going to travel farther and farther, the British needed to invent something as well: canning. However, opening the cans was quite a challenge – soldiers worked with stones and bayonets and it was only 30 years later that someone designed the first can opener! Although cans travel much easier across a battlefield, for decades they would not only mysteriously explode, but would also cause the harshest diseases. But how could the scientists of those days know? It wasn't until 50 years after Appert that Louis Pasteur discovered why canning (generally) worked so well. By testing the influence of air on broths, he did away with the idea that things spoiled ‘spontaneously’ and launched his ‘germ theory’. Even though canned foods became safer, they didn’t taste any better. The ultra-lengthy boiling process was obviated with the help of pressure-cooking. And now, the future brings ‘zapped’ canned food, something called ‘raddaperization’. Does the name ring a bell?