HISTORY OF FROZEN FOODS AND

ITS EVOLUTIONS
The easy and convenient home meal solutions provided by frozen food products today make
our hectic life-styles seem a bit easier. Convenient, easy-to-prepare, nutritious and delicious
frozen foods seem as if they were recently inventedspecially-designed for modern life. In
fact, frozen foods have been around a lot longer than you think, successfully evolving and
adapting to the needs of consumers.

History of Frozen Foods is Long and Varied

In 3000 B.C 1000 B.C

The modern frozen food industry was born over 70 years ago. The first to harness the
power of freezing foods beyond the winter months were the Chinese, who used ice
cellars as early as 3000 B.C - 1000 B.C. The Greeks and Romans stored compressed
snow in insulated cellars, and the Egyptians and Indians discovered that rapid
evaporation through the porous walls of clay vessels produced ice crystals in the
water inside the vessels. Insulated cellars designed to make ice last as long as
possible. It also to store a variety of meats, fish and produce during warmer months.

In 1000 B.C 1000 A.D

Greek and Roman foodies use compressed snow to keep fish and other foods cold.
Other populations find ways to keep food cold too. Egyptians and Indians use doublewalled porous clay pots to create ice crystals between the vessels and keep the food
inside cold.

In 1850s
Ice chests start becoming common place in U.S home and businesses to store cuts of
meat and fruits. These required constant replenishing of fresh ice to keep food cool
and are thus limited in capacity.

In 1900
Early home refrigerator begin reaching the market, gradually replacing the need for
ice boxes that have to constantly be restocked.

In 1912
While working in Newfoundland, naturalist Clarence Birdeye is fascinated with the
Inuit custom of flash freezing fish in sub-zero temperatures right after a catch.

In 1912 1928
Birdeye begins experimenting with various methods of freezing and preserving foods.
He observes that the quicker and colder a food is frozen, better its flavour and texture
when thawed. This is because quickly freezing food produces smaller ice crystals and
large ice crystals turn food mushy upon thawing. Legend has it that Birdseyes interest
in freezing food when as a young engineer in Labrador, he often froze his catch after a
day of fishing to keep it fresh.

In 1928
Birdeye develops two methods for flash freezing food. Both techniques involved
packaging the food before freezing and then holding the food between two metal,
-20F surfaces until solid his invention in creating the double belt freezer, the
forerunner of modern freezing technology.
With Birdeyes method, a two-inch package of meat can drop to 0 degrees in 90
minutes and produce can be frozen in 30 minutes. Because theyre frozen so quickly,
thawed and reheated frozen foods taste extreamely similar to fresh items.

In 1930
Birdeye release a line of frozen foods to the public, including various cuts f meat,
vegetables, fruits, berries, and seafood. Contrary to popular belief, the line was not
strictly vegetables, but included 18 cuts of meat, spinach, peas, fruits and berries, fish
fillets and Blue Point oysters.
But the road to consumer acceptance of these products was a long and rocky one. The
first obstacle was the retailers themselves, who were unwilling to spend the money to
buy refrigerated display cases to merchandise the new products. Consumer resistance

was also high, so the industry found its early saviour in the institutional market.
Grocery store are slow to promote the items because the required expensive freezer
displays. Birdeye sells his patents to Postum (later General Foods) and stay on as an
executive with the company until 1983.

In 1934
Birdeyes company begin manufacturing freezer display cases for his products but the
concept of frozen food is still slow to gain widespread public acceptance. Railroads
and steamship lines became dumping grounds for surplus retail inventories and low or
off-grade frozen products, because the frozen products were prepared before being
served to diners, and customers didnt know the food was frozen.

In 1941
Frozen foods might have died off altogether if not for the onset of World War II.
When Japan overran southeast Asia, it captured a large portion of the worlds tin
resources and the U.S. government placed stringent controls on canners in an effort to
conserve this vital wartime metal. This opened the door for frozen, which used less
crucial materials such as paperboard, waxed paper and cellophane. Furthermore, retail
shelves emptied as canned goods went to war, so major grocery chains eagerly
pressed frozen into service to fill the gaps. Additionally, since frozen did not use
metal, their purchase by consumers required fewer ration points than canned products.

In 1944
To meet increased demand for frozen foods, Birdeye begin leasing refrigerated
railway cars to transport his products across the nation. This finally make national
distribution of frozen food become reality.

Mid 1940s
The another milestone in the growth of the frozen food industry: the introduction of

frozen concentrated orange juice.

In 1949
This product really marked the first volume item for the frozen food industry. The
manufacturers introduce the worlds first frozen breaded seafood that are frozen pizza,
paving the way to full frozen meals.

In 1950
The Birdeye company introduced the first frozen beef hamburger. Besides that, it
marked the introduction of a product that grew to be synonymous with the term frozen
food: the TV Dinner. For the first time, a complete meal was available in frozen form
to families who wished to dine quickly and easily at the table or in front of the TV, as
the name implied. These dinners included an entree/meat item, a starch and a
vegetable, and sometimes a dessert.

In 1954
Originally a restaurant chain, Stouffers Food Corp. builds a processing plant and
refocuses its efforts on manufacturing frozen foods. Americans were introduced to
another favourite frozen food in the fish stick, and more companies scrambled to win
a piece of the suddenly growing frozen food market. Because of this heightened
competition, the 1950s remain as one of the most innovative periods in the history of
frozen foods, and manufacturers all scrambled to bring new products to consumers
first. Among the other innovative foods introduced in frozen form during this decade
were frozen pies and frozen side dishes.

In 1960 -1968
The lean years for the frozen food industry, but not in the traditional sense. The 1960s
were characterized by a new diet craze in America, and from this craze such
products as Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers were born. Jeno Paulucci invents pizza
rolls. Eventually he sells his company to Pills-bury in late 1980s for $140 million.

In 1970
The industry continued to experience growth until the early 70s, when the country
was gripped by one of the worst recessions in history, and an inflationary spiral that
led the government to institute severe price controls.
Creative marketing and a strong determination attitude helped the industry to survive
this tough period, and allowed the industry to remain strong heading into the late 70s
and 80s, when a new invention led to booming sales.
The introduction of the microwave oven for home use allowed consumers to prepare

frozen foods in record time, and solved the dilemma of families who now had two
working parents. Teamed with the microwave oven, frozen foods new buzzword
became convenience, and consumers were quick to respond. TV dinners were
replaced by frozen entrees and upscale dinners, with more taste and variety, and the
option to prepare in minutes using the microwave.

In 1982
Frozen foods were quick to adapt to this new life-style of America, and brands like
Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, and many others thrived. Consumers
were hungry not only for taste, but for healthy ingredients, and regulations requiring
full disclosure of ingredients made consumers more health conscious than ever before.
Words like lite, low-salt, low-fat, and low-cholesterol were the new
adjectives of choice on frozen meals.

In 1987
Continuing the trend of healthier options Amys Frozen Foods begins selling organic
sides and frozen meals.

In 1999
According to the American Frozen Food Institute, sales of US frozen food reach a
record $25 billion.

In 2009
Healthy choice spends an estimated $100 million to rebrand and promote their new
line of lower calories frozen options.

Today and the future

What does the future hold for frozen foods? Its impossible to predict. Clarence
Birdseye may have shook his head in disbelief if someone had suggested in his day
that the future would hold frozen dinners that could be prepared in minutes, frozen
foods targeted specifically to children, frozen ethnic foods of every variety and frozen
food choices for every meal occasion in the day. Frozen food companies continue to
innovate, introducing more family sized meals and numerous healthier option
including frozen organic produce.

The Revolution of Frozen Food

One major change took place when Clarence Birdseye constructed a special freezer for
consumer-packed foods. By the early 1930s, Birdseyes consumer-oriented frozen food
products began to attract attention.
But the revolution that put high-quality, attractive frozen foods within reach of the average
consumer came at the end of the 1950s from a Swedish company, when Bring Frigoscandias
fluidising freezer was developed.
Frozen food technology has made a major contribution to the large socio-economic and
cultural changes that have taken place during the past 50 years. One of the most important is
the fast-food concept.
A large portion of these products are entirely accounted for by deep-frozen semi-prepared or
fully prepared food.
The use of refrigeration in food handling has resulted in a global revolution, in both
industrialised and developing countries. This is a development in which Scandinavian knowhow and technology have played and continue to play an important role.

IMK 103 : INTRODUCTION TO FOOD SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY
TOPIC : HISTORY OF FROZEN FOODS BASED ON
THE YEARS OF ITS EVOLUTIONS

NAME

: SHARIFAH NABIHAH BINTI SYED HASAN

MATRIC NO. : 124907

IC NO.

: 940926-02-5456

NAME LECTURER : PROFESSOR DR. NORZIAH BT MOHD HANI

DATE OF SUBMITION : 8 OCTOBER 2014