COMPRESSED VEGETABLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 May 1942, Page 4

COMPRESSED VEGETABLES

LARGE SCALE EXPERIMENTS IN CANADA. USE AS EMERGENCY RATION. OTTAWA. If a large-scale experiment with the commercial dehydration of vegetables succeeds in Canada, a new and important outlet for Canadian potatoes, turnips, carrots and cabbage may develop, Mr A. M. Shaw of the Department of Agriculture told delegates attending a conference of the Canadian Horticultural Council in Ottawa recently. The delegates, representatives of all provinces, were in Ottawa to discuss problems of the fruit and vegetable industries arising out of the war. With Government backing, and working in conjunction with British food research groups, five plants, have been selected in Canada to turn out dehydrated- vegetables which must meet the high standards set by British experts. "A process has been developed that is expected to turn out highly compressed vegetables which yet will retain vitamins, preserve appearance -and possess high keeping qualities,” Mr Shaw stated-. The vegetables are considered' only an “emergency ration,” to be used in the specialised way for the feeding of soldiers, parachutists or pilots; No big demand is expected'to- develop for them because of their “specialised use.” Little interest was shown in Britain for the space-saving foods until continental markets were lost and the lack of shipping space emphasised the possibilities of dehydration.'