Canned Goods

Canned foods are a history of conquest of both war and taste. They have helped shape eating habits and world history, as well as being shaped by technological advances. Canned foods have also been adapted by local cultures through the processes of globalization and glocalization. Consumption continues to grow, with global sales to be an expected annual US$100 billion by 2020. This entry describes technological developments in the canning process, the role of canned foods in wartime, and canned foods as a global commodity.

Technological Developments

Napoleon Bonaparte noted that “an army marches on its stomach,” and by 1795, the challenges of feeding the globe-spanning French military were so pronounced that the government offered a prize of 12,000 francs to the inventor who could find a way ...

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