Here are some interesting food related inventors and inventions including the can and can opener, carbonated water, chocolate chips, Coca-Cola, cotton candy, hotdogs, marshmallows, mayonnaise, microwave oven, potato chips, the sandwich and the tea bag.
Bread Slicer: The Automatic commercial bread slicer was invented in 1937 by Otto Fredrick Rohwedder from Iowa, USA. Rohwedder had worked on his machine since 1912. His machine both sliced and wrapped a loaf of bread. In 1938, the bread slicer was improved by Gustav Papendick, a baker from St, Louis, Missouri USA.
Can and Can Opener: A metal can (or canister) for preserving food was invented in 1810, by Peter Durand, of London, England. Metal cans (also called tins) could preserve food for a long period of time. To open a can, a person had to use a hammer and chisel because the can opener wasn't invented for another 50 years.
The can opener was invented in 1858 by Ezra Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut USA. Warner's device used a lever and chisel. The can opener was improved in 1870 by William Lyman of West Meridian, Connecticut USA. Lyman's device used a rotating wheel and a sharp edge. His can opener fit only one size of can and first had to pierce the center of the can. The modern-day type of can opener (using a serrated wheel) was invented in 1925.
Carbonated Water: People had been drinking naturally carbonated water (water with carbon dioxide bubbles) since prehistoric times. The English chemist Joseph Priestley experimented with putting gases in liquids in 1767 producing the first artificially produced carbonated water. In 1770, the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman invented a device for making carbonated water from chalk and sulfuric acid.
Chocolate Chips: Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies (and chocolate chip cookies) in 1930. Wakefield ran the Toll House Inn in Wakefield, Massachusettes USA. Her new cookie invention was called the Toll House Cookie. Her original cookies used broken up bars of semi-sweet chocolate.
Coca-Cola: Dr. Johan Stith Pemberton (1830-1888) was an American pharmacist, soldier, and inventor. He invented Coca-Cola on May 8th, 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia USA. He had invented many syrups, medicines, and elixirs before including a very popular drink called French Wine of Coca, which contained French Bordeaux wine, coca leaves, and caffeine (from the Kola nut). When Atlanta banned alcohol consumption in 1885, Pemberton had to change the formula of his French Wine of Coca, omitting the French wine. The formula for Coca-Cola is a closely guarded secret.
Cotton Candy: Cotton candy is a sort of confection that is made from sugar that is heated and spun into slim threads that look like a mass of cotton. It was invented in 1897 by William Morrison and John Thyarton, cotton candy makers from Nashville, Tennessee USA.
Hot Dogs: Hot dogs began as sausages sold in buns. They were first sold from carts by German immigrants on the streets of New York USA in the 1860s. The bun replaced a plate and made the hot dog easier to carry and eat. Sauerkraut was provided as a relish on the hot dog.
Marshmallow: Marshmallow candy was first made by ancient Egyptians over three thousands years ago. The Egyptians made candy from the root of the marshmallow plant (Altheo Officinalis), a plant that grows in marshes. Today's marshmallows do not contain any mallow root. Gelatin is substituted for the dry sticky root.
Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise was invented by the French hundreds of years ago, probably in 1756 by the French chef working for the Duke de Richelieu. The first readymade mayonnaise was sold in the US in 1905 at Richard Hellman's deli in New York USA. Hellman sold his wife's mayonnaise in open wooden boats. In 1912, he sold the mayonnaise in large glass bottles. The type he called Hellman's Blue Bibbon Mayonnaise was very popular and is still sold today. It is now owned by Best Foods.
Microwave Oven: The microwave oven was invented as an accidental product of war-time (World War 2) radar research using magnetrons (vacuum tubes that produce magnetic radiation). In 1946, the engineer Dr. Percy LeBaron Spencer, who worked for the Raytheon Corporation USA, was working on magnetrons. One day at work, he had a candy bar in his pocket, and found that it had melted. He realized that the microwaves would cook foods quickly - even quicker than conventional ovens that cook with heat. The Raytheon Corporation produced the forst commercial microwave oven in 1954. It was called the 1161 Radarange.
Potato Chips: The potato chip was invented in 1853 by George Crum. Crum was a Native American/African American chef at the Moon Lake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs, New York USA. French Fries were popular at the restaurant and one day a diner complained that the fries were too thick. Although Crum made a thinner batch, the customer was still unsatisfied. Crum finally made fries that were too thin to eat with a fork hoping to annoy the extremely fussy customer. The customer, surprisingly enough, was happy and potato chips were invented.
Sandwich: The sandwich was invented by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). About 1762, he is reputed to have been too busy to have a formal meal and instructed his cook to pack his meat inside the bread to save him time and the sandwich was invented.
Teabag: Tea bags were invented by Thomas Sullivan around 1708. The first bags were made of silk. Sullivan was a coffee and tea merchant in New York USA who began packaging tea samples in tiny silk bags. But many customers brewed the tea in them. The tea filled bag was placed directly into the boiling water where the tea brewed, instead of the traditional way of brewing the loose tea in a teapot. Later tea bags were made of thin paper.
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