10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. May 11.1966 Food Freezing Studied Since the middle of the last century, scientists have worked on perfecting food freezing. To day. only n few foods cant be bought in an easy-to-use frozen variety. Even the Romans knew that icc could preserve food. The problem was preserving the ice. So sun drying, salting, and smoking remained the most effi cient ways to protect the food supply—until science stepped in about a century ago to prove the feasibility of freezing food. Progiess was slow at first, but in the past 25 years the frozen food industry has swelled its out put from a mere 580 million pounds to over 11 billion pounds in 1966. Bv 1976. some envisage a froz en food output of 24.6 billion pounds—a 124 percent gam over 1966. Today, about the only impor tant fresh products not being frozen commercially are banan as, pears, tomatoes, lettuce, and other salad greens. But it prob ably won’t be long before food scientists solve the problems of freezing them. too. They’re al ready working on tomatoes. In recent years frozen cooked and prepared foods, to be re heated at home, have been rap idly winning consumer accep tance. These include full course dinners, casserole dishes, spe cialty foreign style foods, and bakery products. Here’s a brief look at the his tory and present situation of frozen foods in the U.S. Poultry. Commercial freezing of poultry began around 1865, and in 1870 six carloads of chick ens were frozen in Wisconsin and shipped to the New York market. Today, about 25 percent of our total poultry production is froz en—mainly turkeys, ducks, and geese. This enables producers to cope with the more seasonal demand for these birds. The year-round demand for fresh young chickens is such til at only about 10 or II percent of them are frozen commercial ly. Many homemakers still prefer to buy chicken fresh and store it m the freezer at home. But re cent studies show that commer cially frozen chickens are gain ing in popularity. Use of all classes of poultry has risen more rapidly in the last 20 years than that of any other food category—-from 25.5 pounds per capita in 1945 to 44 pounds in 1966. Eggs. In 1890 someone decided to try freezing eggs removing cracked or soiled shells and freezing the contents. When bak ers used them and found they worked as well as freshly broken eggs, their acceptance was as sured. Today preshelled frozen eggs are sold in quantity to manufac turers of food products Elimin ating the breakage step reduces the manufacturer’s processing and labor costs Red meats. Trappers and ear ly settlers and farmers froze red meat in cold climates to pre serve it through the winter Snow and pond ice came in handy In 1867 the first successful shipment of frozen beef was made in the United States—from Indianola, Tex , to New Orleans Production of f r o z e n meats grew from 20 million pounds in 1945 to 450 million pounds in 1964 and it continues to climb But it still makes up only a small part of annual per capita consumption—only 2 pounds in 1965. out of a total of 170 pounds Mucn of the frozen output goes to institutional users in the form of patties, cutlets, and oth- cr portion control cuts. Deciduous fruits and berries. These Include strawberries, cher ries, peaches, apples, and other fruits and berries. Most of the frozen pack is used by the food manufacturing industry. By the late 1920’s many fruits and berries were being frozen during the peak of the-season for later use in manufactured jams, jellies, ice cream, and bakery goods. Per capita consumption of fruits and berries in all forms has changed little over the past 20 years—though canned use has ri«en while fresh use has dropped. Rale of growth in consumer use of frozen fruits and berries has been relatively slow, partly because consumers have become accustomed to the high quality and convenience of canned prod ucts. Research is underway on a new thaw pouch—similar to that already used for cooking some frozen vegetables—which should encourage wider home use of frozen fruits and berries. Vegetables. Early efforts at freezing vegetables were not very successful. Discoloration and off-flavor presented prob lems to be overcome. In 1929 it was found that blanching would stop the enzyme action that caused the deteriora tion, and now about 10 percent K» N ® Jarmour^T VERTAGREEN. 8-32-16 POWR-PWIS AUHft/AWNnSSoOMCII HHHKf *lll.— IN There has never been a starter fertilizer like the KING . . . Armour Vertagreen 8-32-16 Powr-Prlls! Developed by Armour Research . . . tested in Armour Green houses . . . manufactured under strict Armour Quality Control in one of the most modern agricultural chemi cal plants in the world . . . PROVED IN THOUSANDS , OF FARM FIELDS! HERE'S WHAT THE KING OF THE ROW GIVES YOU . . . • Precision Uniformity • Trouble-free Application • Even Distribution • High Water-Solubility • Quicker Crop Start • Earlier Maturity • A Superior POWR-PRIL Yield PROFIT This Year With The KING OF THE ROW . . . VERTAGREEN 8-32-16 POWR-PRILS. ARMOUR BULK WHSE. Enos R. Buckwalter Jr. 2285 Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster (At Smoketown on Rte 340 Vz Mile East of 230 Bypass) Phone 394-1257 Bagged Goods & Pesticides Available at Armour Whse. J U Baker Whse. 1133 Manheim Pike, Lancastei, Pa. , Phone 393-9949 ARMOUR ... A world of ways WTW to help you grow! or nil the vegetables we eat arc bought in frozen form. Sales of prepared frozen vege tables continue to grow in value nt a rate of about 20 percent an nually. Asparagus, lima beans, snap beans, broccoli, corn, green pens, and spinach make up over three-fourths of the frozen pack. Per capita consumption of fresh and processed vegetables has not changed much over the last 20 years—but frozen use has risen from 7 to 29 percent of the total. Potatoes. In a class by them selves. frozen potato products— especially French fries have grown in popularity to become one of the leading frozen foods. Production soared from 3 mil lion pounds in 7947 to 1.2 billion pounds in 1965. Most of the sales are for institutional and restau rant use. Only 20 percent of the 1964 pack went to retail stores. Citrus fruits. The newest prod ucts in the frozen food market, concentrated citrus juices did not attain any significant status until after 1945. In recent years, however, nearly three-fourths of the froz en citrus pack has been concen trated orange juice. And anoth er 15 percent, lemonade. Use of frozen juices has more than doubled since 1950. reach ing the equivalent of almost 30 pounds of fresh fruits per per son in 1965. 8 of tw rO>M* Available at For Full Market Re Read LANCASTER FA SOYBEAN GROWERS.. Get the most WEED CONTR for your money mm ftl«. U s M LOR linuron weed killer P. L. ROHRER & BRO. Smoketown, Pa. po RM
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