ABSTRACT
During the early evolution of food freezing, the preserva-
tion of the food was the primary motivation. There is
evidence that natural ice or cold air (in appropriate geo-
graphic regions) was used to create a cold environment for
food products as early as 500 B.C., or possibly as early as
1000 B.C. Freezing as a method of preserving perishable
foods such as meat may have been used by prehistoric man
in temperate and cold climates. Although specific refer-
ences to lowering of product temperatures to below the
initial freezing temperature are not described, the use of
water as a medium to freeze products may have occurred as
early as 1550, when salt and other additives were used to
reduce the freezing temperature of liquid water.
