What is the most important food related invention in history?

The UK’s national academy of science has recently chosen refrigeration as the most significant food related invention in history.

The Royal Society says that “Refrigeration has played the biggest role of any innovation in improving the diets of millions of people. It is responsible for bringing a more varied, interesting, nutritious and more affordable diet to an ever increasing number of people”.

Refrigeration is the top of a list of 20 that the Society has chosen as the most significant food related inventions in history. The original list was 100, and was pared down by the Steering Committee to the final 20, based on accessibility, productivity, aesthetics and health.

Two of the top three were invented in the UK, with refrigeration credited to William Cullen, who demonstrated it for the first time in 1748, at the University of Glasgow.

The third in the list is Canning. The tin can was patented by Peter Durand, a British merchant, in 1810. Interestingly, the way we now use commonly for opening cans, the can opener was not invented until around 1860.

The Society believes that the second most significant innovation is Pasteurisation / sterilisation. This has allowed milk and other foods to be available for longer times and had a major impact on food safety.

The Top 20 food related inventions of history are;

1. Refrigeration
2. Pasteurisation / sterilisation
3. Canning
4. The oven
5. Irrigation
6. Threshing machine / combine harvester
7. Baking
8. Selective breeding / strains
9. Grinding / milling
10. The plough
11. Fermentation
12. The fishing net
13. Crop Rotation
14. The pot
15. The knife
16. Eating utensils
17. The cork
18. The barrel
19. The microwave oven
20. Frying

Do you agree with the Royal Society?