Without Napoleon, many canned foods wouldn't exist

This story of Napoleon with preserves began in the 18th century, exactly in 1791, at a time when France was economically struggling and where the military had to spend many hours at the front without really fresh food or in acceptable conditions.

In France, there was a shortage of good-quality food supplies or fresh food such as fruits and vegetables for the troops, which forced them to eat only smoked or salted foods and caused numerous casualties among the soldiers.

In 1795, Napoleon's government decided to offer a reward of 12,000 francs (approximately €25,000) to the person who could find a solution to the food problem so that it could reach the soldiers in good condition.

Nicolas Appert was a French chef who decided to look for that solution and got to work. He spent years searching for methods, conducting experiments, and making many mistakes, until in 1809 he found a way to preserve food and won the prize of 12,000 francs.

His method consisted of putting the food into glass jars, sealing them tightly, and then boiling them in hot water for 12 hours. It was mainly done with fruits, vegetables, and meats, and later it was also possible to do it with fish.

Finally, in 1810, the award was given to Nicolas Appert, and he decided to build a factory to continue packaging these products. He also wrote a book where he explained the entire process behind his method for more than 50 different foods and described the four essential steps that must be followed:

• 1: Place the food in the container
• 2: Close the bottle tightly
• 3: Bain-marie for a specific time according to the food
• 4: Take the water bottle away at the scheduled time

It was back in 1864 when a microbiologist named Louis Pasteur discovered that microorganisms were responsible for food spoilage and that they could be destroyed by heat.

Thanks to this study and the discovery made by Louis, it was possible to understand how Appert developed his method and how, in some way, it could be improved.

Obviously, the fact that today we have canned food is due to Nicolas Appert for having discovered this method and to Louis Pasteur for finding a reason and significantly improving the results of the first method, but we must also thank Napoleon for the concern he had for the troops and for the number of men who ended up dying due to the lack of proper food.

Thanks to this concern, Napoleon and his government managed to find an answer to a big problem.