Clarence Birdseye found a way to flash-freeze foods and deliver them to the public---one of the most important steps forward ever taken in the food industry.
After observing the people of the Arctic preserving fresh fish and meat in barrelsof sea water quickly frozen by the arctic temperatures, he concluded that it was the rapid freezing in the extremely low temperatures that made food retain freshness when thawed and cooked months later. The fish were frozen too quickly for ice crystals to form and ruin their cellular structure. Birdseye the businessman saw that the public back home would gladly pay for such frozen foods, if he could deliver them. He returned to New York, and in 1924 founded Birdseye Seafoods, Inc.
Later, he invented a system that packed dressed fish, meat or vegetables into waxed-cardboard cartons, which were flash-frozen under high pressure.
Today, we especially appreciate that Birdseye's process, still basically in use, preserves foods' nutrients as well as their flavor. In fact, we can say that Clarence Birdseye has indirectly improved both the health and convenience of virtually everyone in the industrialized world.
Blanche
Sources:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfrfood.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Birdseye
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/birdseye.html
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