Oreos in the 1910's
Historically, the most important reason to process of prepare foods has been to make them last longer before spoiling. Early civilizations used techniques like salting meats, fermenting dairy. For example cheese and yogurt. In the 1790s, Napoleon Bonaparte offered a prize to the scientist who could best develop ways to preserve foods for the French armies. This prompted the discovery of safe canning practices by Nicolas Appert.
Processed Foods Timeline:
Here is a timeline on the most important establishments made in the processed foods area.
More Elaboration on the History:
1910’s
Processed foods have been around for a very long time, they were introduced before any of the world wars. Trans fats, for example, were introduced in the 1890’s and entered the food supply in the 1910’s.
1920’s
In the 1920’s, women were getting exhausted of having to prepare foods from scratch, and so ready-to cook foods were becoming more available.
1930’s
The Great Depression was approaching, families had to be able to get by with less, they had to be super-conserving and stretch meals. That reduced protein and added more canned vegetables and beans to their diet.
1940’s
World War II was going on for about a year, and there had to be a budget to feed the fighting soldiers. Many new “convenience foods” were introduced after the war.
1950’s
This decade was a low point for American cuisine. Processed foods were mass distributed and fast food restaurants were almost everywhere. Ready-made/ready-to-cook foods (processed foods) were all the excitement. That made the busy housewives so happy due to being able to save time by using canned and frozen foods. The FDA’s 1958 Food Additives Amendment required manufacturers to prove the “safety” of any new additives.
1960’s
During this time, the focus was mainly on radical change and experimentation, even in the culinary arena. Ethnic foods were loved by the people, they were very popular. Vegetarianism was catching on. Aluminum cans were first used in commercials for foods and beverages. Irradiation was used for the first time to sterilize dried fruits and vegetables to stop sprouting and control insect infestation.
1970’s
The 1970’s brought economic challenges and that meant that homemade foods were simple to prepare (they were ready-made). The FDA banned food colouring Red Dye No. 2 because studies showed that it could cause cancer. Due to the ban, red M&M’s disappeared for a total of 11 years. High fructose corn syrup became increasingly prevalent in beverages and processed foods. “Lite” products were introduced to combat the weight people were putting on.
1980’s
This was also another sad decade for “real food”. The Red M&M’s returned and the artificial sweetener aspartame was approved by the FDA. The USDA also made an announcement that ketchup could be counted as a vegetable in the school lunch program. The first genetically engineered crop plant, which was a tomato, was developed.
1990’s
In 1990 the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) required that all packaged foods include standard nutrition labeling information. The first genetically modified foods were being sold in markets. Vast amounts of caloric sweeteners were being consumed by the people and they were also introduced to chips containing Olestra.
2000
The buzzwords/ most popular words used during this time were “diet” and “low-fat”. Manufacturers tried to help by reducing the fat content, they did that by removing high-fat ingredients, like butter and oil, and maintained flavor by adding preservatives, artificial sweeteners and flavors. The South Beach Diet was introduced and so people were motivated to cut out carbs, including healthy ones. There was a huge demand for gluten-free products. Slowly, food documentaries began warning people of the hidden dangers in the foods that they eat. The FDA required food labels to include trans fat content. Due to the recession many people went back to cooking at home, cooking with fresh” real food”.
How does this relate to us now?Everything that happened in the food industry over the years affects us now. Over the decades, people were finding more ways to process foods, more advanced ways. So over the years, processed foods were becoming more harmful to us. Compare processed foods now to processed foods in the 1910s, nowadays processed foods cause the most damage to our bodies, more than smoking and drugs. Unbelievable, right? Due to the hard times in the 1900s, like the world wars and the Great Depression, processed foods were made, and their main purpose was to make it easier for people. However now, their purpose is mostly for foods to taste better.
You can determine the amount of trans fats by looking at the Nutrition Facts panel. However, products could be listed as 0 grams of trans fats if they contain 0 grams to less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving. You can also spot trans fats by reading ingredient lists and looking for the ingredients referred to as “partially hydrogenated oils”