Vacuum Sealer History
The history of vacuum sealers does not go back very far because they were only invented in the 1940s, and that is only for commercial vacuum food sealers. If you want to know about the history of home food vacuum sealers, there is even less history, dating back only to 1984.Vacuum food sealers have been owned by food packaging corporations since the 1940s in part because World War II and other such events made them a necessity. The ability to draw the air out of food (which causes it to spoil) and seal it for a longer period of time than its usual shelf life would allow was essential in transporting food and supplies to troops overseas. Using food vacuum sealers also saved food manufacturers a lot of money and increased their profit margins. The invention revolutionized what could and couldn’t be sold on store shelves and the process used to package them.
The history of vacuum sealers took a huge turn in 1984 when a man named Hans Christian invented vacuum food sealers for the home and called them the FoodSavers. Along with his partner at the Tilia Corporation, Bob Warden, he approached Proctor and Gamble to see if they would be interested in mass marketing these new vacuum food sealers. They were interested, and the first ones were manufactured in Italy, to rave reviews and sellout sales everywhere.
These first vacuum food sealers were very large, with the prototypes made out of wood. They had a nozzle that looks much like the one on your floor vacuum cleaner that sucked out all of the air from the food package. A heat bar was then used to seal the plastic on these new food vacuum sealers.
Immediately, Proctor and Gamble saw that there would have to be some changes to the next run of FoodSavers. The exposed heat bar could burn someone if they weren't careful, and the food hose often got bits and particles of food stuck in it, which of course could lead to bacterial infections and food-borne illness. This is where a new turn in the history of vacuum sealers comes in.
Proctor and Gamble hired a designer to develop a new model with the same basic principles of the old vacuum sealers. The new Tilia FoodSaver was made of lightweight plastic instead of heavier wood and the hose was replaced by a channel-style vacuum area that automatically sealed itself with no heat bar exposure.
The result was less chance of injury and a machine that not only needed less cleaning, but was much easier to clean as well. Today, Tilia has a lot of competition as other companies have taken the next step forward in manufacturing vacuum food sealers, bringing quality and convenience to the forefront of the industry.