48 Store Food? Yes, we can 1812 THE FIRST canned foods appeared in 1812, the first can opener in 1885. Hard as cans were to open initially, they were culinary time capsules providing the bounty of summer in the dead of winter. Napolééon reportedly offered a reward to anyone who could supply his troops with food that would keep. In 1795, French brewer Nicolas Appert, without understanding the principle of sterilization, preserved foods in jars by heating them to kill bacteria, then sealing them airtight. By 1809 his factory was supplying the ports of France. The London company of Donkin, Hall and Gamble applied his methods to tin cans, which became the preferred method of storage.
