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Why Napoleon Offered A Prize For Inventing Canned Food
“Napoleon offered 12,000 francs to improve upon the prevailing food preservation methods of the time. Not surprisingly, the purpose was to better feed his army ‘when an invaded country was not able or inclined to sell or provide food’. Fifteen years later, confectioner Nicolas François Appert claimed the prize. He devised a method involving heating, boiling and sealing food in airtight glass jars — the same basic technology still used to can foods.” -Stephen Schaber
