"We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine-gun."
George Orwell, novelist
Canning is the process by which food is preserved by sealing it into a robust and airtight container, and then sterilizing the sealed can. Cans are heated (sometimes under pressure, to achieve a higher temperature than boiling) to destroy bacteria.
Englishman Peter Durand patented a process using a tin-lined, wrought-iron "canister" in London in 1810. (Nicolas Appert had recently developed his food preservation process in France, whereby hot food was sealed with wax into glass jars.) At first, the strong metal cans were made and sealed by hand and cooked for six hours, making it an expensive process. At this stage canned food was used only by the armed forces and explorers. The can opener had not yet been invented and hungry diners had to cut or break open the tins using brute force.
In 1846, Englishman Henry Evans developed a die- cast process that increased can production from six to sixty an hour and, in the United States in 1847, Alien Taylor patented a machine-stamped tin can. Further developments in methods of lining, sealing, heating, and opening cans continued apace following Durand's early models, improving manufacturing efficiency and making canned food and drinks progressively safer and more convenient.
The rapidly increasing urban populations of Europe and the United States from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries onward saw a huge rise in demand for safe, transportable, and inexpensive foods. The market for canned food and drink has not looked back since.
