Hello
Everyone,
Have you
ever eaten spam? It is leading the way
in creating a new food form called 'fossil' food.
Spam is a
tinned precooked meat first introduced in 1937 in the US. It gained popularity during World War II and
is unique for its incredibly long shelf life.
The expiry date on the tin is usually two years but this is only to keep
the product turning over rather than a true reflection of its use-by date. Evidently its real shelf life is 12 to 15
years.
The philosophy
behind the long life of Spam is behind this new movement to create 'fossil'
foods. Napoleon's need to
find a ready supply of long-lasting food
to feed his army ie canning changed the food industry but now scientists are looking at the next level of
food preservation beyond salting and freezing.
One next development is high pressure
food processing (HPP)which pulverises bacteria and is already used for meats instead
of some chemicals in the food industry. The advantage of HPP is that it does
not significantly affect the flavour and nutritional value of foods.
Imagine what we could do with
nutritionally sound food products that last 3 to 5 years without refrigeration. The potential
for creating safe and stable world food supplies is enormous especially for
periods of famine, disasters and energy failures.
Roz
Townsend www.roztownsend.com
To read more
of these ideas see Roz's latest book Future
Words available on Amazon
Source:
The
Sun-Herald 26 October 2014
Hungry for
an aged sammie by
Caterine Armitage
