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Quick Freeze airline meals take flight

Broadcast Date: June 17, 1949

Flavour and presentation, once sacrificed in the name of convenience, will be surrendered no more thanks to quick-freeze technology and onboard processing ovens. Trans-Canada Airlines is abandoning the old style of serving pre-cooked food preserved in warming ovens. Instead, travelers will be served frozen meals reheated minutes before consumption. It's just like a fine meal prepared at home. "I defy you to tell the difference," challenges a TCA stewardess in this CBC Radio interview.

Quick Freeze airline meals take flight

• When passenger service was introduced in the 1930s, travelers weren't provided with any meals but instead were given earplugs, chewing gum and smelling salts. It wasn't until the airplanes had heated and pressurized cabins, that in-flight meals were introduced.
• The subject of airplane food continued to make headlines when, in 1964, CP Air received a special dispensation from the Vatican. It permitted Catholics traveling on CP Air on a Friday to eat meat.

• Clarence Birdseye, a New York taxidermist, invented the flash-freezing method of food preservation. He sold his patents and trademarks to the Postum Company for $22 million and later invented an infrared heat lamp and a spotlight for store window displays.
• Today, catering services struggle to work with the in-cabin elements. Humidity is maintained at a low level to prevent any moisture from forming on electrical equipment. Over time, passengers become dehydrated and the food turns dry, making it difficult to match tastes.

Quick Freeze airline meals take flight

Medium: Radio

Program: CBC News Roundup

Broadcast Date: June 17, 1949

Guest(s): Anne McAllister

Host: Bill Reid
Reporter: Thom Benson

Duration: 2:22

Last updated:
June 3, 2008