Research into frozen foods that took place more than 40 years ago will be recognised this week in a special ceremony to take place at the US Department of Agriculture's Western Regional Research Center. The research - known as time-temperature tolerance studies - was conducted at the centre between 1948-1965.
The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, will designate the research as a National Historic Chemical Landmark - the landmarks programme was established in 1992 to recognise seminal historic events in chemistry and increase awareness of the contributions of chemistry to society.
Concerned about the poor quality, colour and flavour of frozen foods, manufacturers after World War II turned to the US Department of Agriculture for research assistance to investigate the problems. The project was assigned to the Western Regional Research Center where scientists were able to determine the optimum time and temperature at which foods could be frozen. The experiments, which came to be called time-temperature tolerance studies, were conducted on frozen fruits, juices, vegetables, poultry, beef, pre-cooked foods and bakery products.
The studies, some of the first systematic investigations into the quality problems then surrounding frozen food, uncovered chemical changes that frozen foods were undergoing as they made their way from the manufacturer to the consumer.
The scientists found that zero degrees Fahrenheit is the critical temperature for maintaining stability in most frozen foods.
The studies also revealed valuable information about the maximum time that frozen foods can be kept above zero degrees without deteriorating. Another major outcome of the research was the development of models that could be used to predict the stability and quality of a wide variety of frozen foods over time.
The American Chemical society claims that the freezing procedures, analytical techniques, food handling and storage recommendations that came out of the research were instrumental in the enormous post-war success of the frozen food industry, with sales rising from $500 million (€501m) to $68 billion (€68.2bn) between 1950-1999.
James Seiber, director of the Research Center, will receive the award.