Appert

Nicolas Appert (1749–1841) was a French confectioner and chef who is widely regarded as the father of canning. Born in Châlons-sur-Marne, he devoted years to experimenting with food preservation and developed a method to keep food edible for extended periods.

Appert’s process involved sealing food in airtight glass containers, typically jars closed with cork stoppers and sealing wax, and then heating them in boiling water to destroy spoilage organisms. He published his method in 1809 in the work L’art de conserver les substances animales et végétales, outlining practical techniques for preserving meat, vegetables, and other foods. The approach relied on hermetic sealing and heat to inhibit microbial growth, enabling long-term storage and transport.

The method gained prominence during the Napoleonic era, as military needs drove innovation in provisioning. Appert’s work earned recognition from the French government and laid the foundation for modern canning, although the technique would later be adapted to metal cans by others, most notably Peter Durand in 1810. The term appertization (or appertisation) is sometimes used in food science to refer to the canning process.

Legacy aside from canning, Appert’s book helped establish systematic approaches to food preservation and influenced later developments in microbiology and food safety. He continued to refine his techniques and died in 1841 in Massy, near Paris, leaving a lasting impact on the way food is stored and transported.