NEWS & VIEWS|||SARASIJ|||08th JUNE 2026

 

The Process of Canning Invented

How many knows the name of INVENTOR??

SARASIJ MAJUMDER

Which person faded away into obscurity despite being responsible for one of humanity’s most important inventions?

Napoleon is credited with saying——“An army marches on its stomach”

The food available to soldiers, circa 1810, in EUROPE, was hard bread and salted meat, which was neither nutritious nor appetizing.

Napoleon offered a prize of 12,000 Francs to anyone who could invent a better way to store food for his troops.

Chef Nicolas Appert(as in appetizing) rose to the challenge.

He perfected a method of putting food in jars, submerging the jars in boiling water to preserve the food, then seal the jars.

In other words—- Process of canning was invented. This is perfected as the time, and science progressed.

 For his invention, Appert was given a large cash prize by the French government, because his invention of canning was extremely important for the French military in the Napoleonic Wars.

Canned food was first used by the military during times of war and was initially unpopular with the general public. Until the 20th century, metal cans were very bulky, aesthetically unappealing, and heavy, while canned food in glass containers was prone to breakage. With each war that occurred after its invention, canned food gained more public trust and popularity. After World War I, canned food became commonplace in the everyday home.

Now, canned foods are generally hermetically sealed. Some foods are heated to sterilizing temperature.

All sorts of foods, such as meats, vegetables, and fruits can be canned. Some examples of canned foods include canned green beans, sweet corn, chili, SPAM, and tuna fish., normally, before CANNING.

Canning is one of the main inventions that supports modern life to which we give little thought.

Though well-known in France, Chef Appert has faded away into obscurity in the rest of the world.