Fridge tops list of food and drink inventions
It's been keeping our food chilled for two centuries and now the refrigerator has been voted the most important food and drink invention in human history.
The fridge, pasteurised milk and the tin can are the three most significant inventions in the history of food and drink, according to distinguished scientific body the Royal Society.
A group of fellows whittled down a list of 100 inventions to a shortlist of 20, which were then voted on by the whole society and a group of food and drink experts.
All three are relatively modern inventions compared to some of the others on the shortlist, including the fishing net and baking.
Fridges were first produced commercially in 1805, the first modern pasteurisation test was conducted in France in 1862 and British merchant Peter Durand patented the tin can back in 1810.
Here’s the complete top 20:
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
I'd have swapped the microwave for the chopping board, as what can you really do in a microwave that you can't do another way? And although it's not a food and drink invention per se, I'd have a hard time ignoring the dishwasher. It could maybe take the place of canning (sorry Peter).
What would you have on your list? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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