The demand for convenience was strong in the 1950’s and this drove the creation of many food innovations.
The 1950’s was a time of great innovation in food products. It was a decade driven by the demand for convenience and many of the modern products we use today are food innovations of the 1950’s. Women wanted to feed their families good, hearty meals but didn’t want to spend hours a day in the kitchen. Appliances were revolutionized to reflect this demand, as was food technology. Frozen foods including fruits, vegetables and TV dinners quickly became household staples. Canned foods such as soups were also very popular and often used in making casseroles, the iconic dish of he decade. Here’s a look at other important food innovations from the 1950’s.
1950
Minute Rice
Kellogg’s Sugar Pops
1951
Ore Ida Foods (frozen potato products)
Duncan Hines Cake Mix
Tropicana
1952
Kraft Cheese Wiz
Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks
1953
Eggo Frozen Waffles
Star-Kist canned tuna
Swanson TV Dinners
1954
General Mills Trix
Butterball Turkeys
1955
Kellogg’s Special K cereal
McDonald’s
1956
Imperial Margarine
1957
Pam nonstick cooking spray
1958
Tang
Rice a Roni
General Mills Cocoa Puffs
Jif Peanut Butter
1959
Ocean Spray