First tin-canned food

In 1810, Peter Durand (UK), a broker from London, UK, received the first patent for preserving food by heating it in a sealed container. However, his patent was based on the invention of the French chef Nicolas Appert, who for many years had been conducting experiments in heat-processed preserving in glass. Durand’s innovation was to use tinned iron containers instead of glass. He partnered with an engineer and a manufacturer, and in 1813 the firm of Donkin, Hall and Gamble established the first canning factory in the world, in London’s Bermondsey district.

Early attempts to preserve food by heating it in sealed containers to prevent contact with oxygen were made by the Romans. Beginning in the late 18th century, the French chef Nicolas Appert pioneered the method of preserving food in glass. He sealed glass vessels with cork and then processed them in a hot-water bath for varying lengths of time, depending on the foodstuff. By 1803, the French navy was using Appert’s’ preserved soup, boiled beef in gravy, and peas and beans for long sea voyages. Appert published a description of his methods in L’Art de conserver pendant plusieurs années toutes les substances animales et végétales (“The Art of Preserving All Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years”) in 1810, but it was not until 1861 that the French scientist Louis Pasteur definitively proved that harmful organisms in food were destroyed when sealed containers are subjected to heat.