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How to store canned food for 100 years without a fridge

Since 1974, experts have been storing food in the Taimyr Peninsula's permafrost layer for a long time. The experiment involves a number of research institutes. Arctic.ru has interviewed sources at the Research Institute for Storage Issues, affiliated with the Federal Agency for State Reserves (Rosrezerv), about the experiment's origins and its practical applications.

In the footsteps of Baron Eduard Toll

It is no coincidence that the Taimyr Peninsula has been selected as a venue for this experiment to study the possibility of long-term food storage inside the permafrost layer. In 1973, a polar expedition sponsored by the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper and headed by explorer Dmitry Shparo found a unique food depot dating to the early 20th century and established by Arctic explorer Baron Eduard Toll in Taimyr.

The food seemed quite edible. In 1900-1902, Baron Toll headed an expedition to study Taimyr and to locate the legendary Sannikov Land. Expedition members sailed aboard the Zarya (Dawn) yacht under steam and sails. In September 1900, Baron Toll had this food depot established before setting out on a sled trip across the peninsula.

"I told my men to place a box with 48 cabbage soup cans, a soldered tin with six kilograms of dried bread, a soldered tin with six kilograms of oats, another tin with about 1.6 kilograms of sugar, four kilograms of chocolate, seven more bars and one block of tea inside a pit marked by a wooden cross," Baron Toll wrote in his diary September 9, 1900.

Most members of his expedition perished while trying to locate Sannikov Land, and this food depot remained untouched.

Although the depot's precise coordinates were not known, members of the above-mentioned Komsomolskaya Pravda expedition managed to locate it after finding pieces of the wooden cross.

Left image: Geologist, traveler and Arctic explorer Eduard Toll (photo courtesy of the Storage Research Institute of the Federal Agency for State Reserves); Right image: A pillar indicating the location of food stored by Eduard Troll’s Russian polar expeditionLeft image: Geologist, traveler and Arctic explorer Eduard Toll (photo courtesy of the Storage Research Institute of the Federal Agency for State Reserves); Right image: A pillar indicating the location of food stored by Eduard Troll’s Russian polar expedition
Left image: Geologist, traveler and Arctic explorer Eduard Toll (photo courtesy of the Storage Research Institute of the Federal Agency for State Reserves); Right image: A pillar indicating the location of food stored by Eduard Troll’s Russian polar expedition ©Photos by members of the Taimyr expedition

Members of Shparo's expedition brought some food samples from the depot, including canned food, oats, chocolate bars, tea, as well as some matches, to Moscow. Food industry experts and those dealing with long-term food storage were fascinated by these finds.

In 1974, the Soviet Ministry of the Food Industry and Komsomolskaya Pravda established their joint research expedition whose members removed part of the food from the 1900 depot and left all other foodstuffs in Taimyr until 2050.

"The situation was quite unique because they found rare cans with cabbage and meat soup dating to 1900 that were issued to Imperial Russian Army service personnel. The cans were opened after the expedition, and it turned out that the soup was non-toxic and really tasty," Sergei Ulanin, director of Rosrezerv's Research Institute for Storage Issues, said.

Left image: Tinned food, cabbage soup with meat and cereal, for military troops found at the food storage site of Eduard Toll’s expedition; Right image: A box from the food storage site of Eduard Toll’s expeditionLeft image: Tinned food, cabbage soup with meat and cereal, for military troops found at the food storage site of Eduard Toll’s expedition; Right image: A box from the food storage site of Eduard Toll’s expedition
Left image: Tinned food, cabbage soup with meat and cereal, for military troops found at the food storage site of Eduard Toll’s expedition; Right image: A box from the food storage site of Eduard Toll’s expedition ©Photos by members of the Taimyr expedition

The impressive quality of these old canned foods showed that it is possible to store strategic food reserves inside permafrost layers for a long time, without having to build special depots with the right temperature conditions.

It was decided to continue Baron Toll's spontaneous experiment, and modern types of canned food were placed into the permafrost at a depth of 1.5 meters in 1974.

"We realized that this presented a nice opportunity to try and conduct scientific experiments and see how our food can be stored in conditions of permafrost because certain regions of the Russian Federation make it possible to store food in natural conditions," Ulanin noted.

A 150-year experiment

The food-storage experiment is to last until 2050 in this permafrost region. Research expeditions visited Taimyr in 1974, 1980, 2004, 2010 and 2016, respectively, with experts checking the quality of canned food and placing other food samples. Their findings are quite optimistic.

"The experiment showed that foods stored inside permafrost retained their properties and some foods even improved them," Ulanin noted.

The quality of black and green tea tends to improve. When stored at subzero temperatures, tea leaves become covered with tiny cracks. This makes tea more aromatic and delicious. Permafrost also benefits vodka because various chemical substances impairing its taste are destroyed during long-term storage inside permafrost, and vodka starts tasting better.

Members of the 1980 and 2010 expeditions placed wheat, rye, oat and barley grains inside the permafrost to see whether they would retain their properties.

"We brought them here, grew them, and they yielded impressive harvests. We also ground wheat and rye grains into fine flour and baked some really safe and high-quality bread," Ulanin said.

Left image: Cereals left in the frozen earth; Right image: Grain left in the frozen earthLeft image: Cereals left in the frozen earth; Right image: Grain left in the frozen earth
Left image: Cereals left in the frozen earth; Right image: Grain left in the frozen earth ©Photos by members of the Taimyr expedition

The experiment studies numerous food varieties, including cereals, grain, flour, pasta, vegetable oil, meat and fish cans, condensed milk, candies, tea, baby food and food for athletes.

All of them can be stored effectively inside permafrost. In 2016, experts from the Research Institute for Storage Issues expanded the experiment and added various other types of manufactured goods, including rubber, wool, transmission oil, flash drives, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray disks. Some goods are stored inside modern packs.

"Our goal is to see how food packages would interact with permafrost, and it is possible to extend food's shelf life by upgrading tin and varnish layers. Storage parameters have been stipulated, the food production process is underway, and what we need is food crates and packages," Ulanin said.

Just in case

What are the practical applications of this experiment involving long-term food storage inside permafrost? The Russian Arctic is now being actively developed, primarily by the Armed Forces, which are building their own bases above the Arctic Circle.

It goes without saying that people living and working in the uninviting Arctic environment need top-notch food and hearty meals.

"Military units that may be stationed there would need certain food stockpiles. And we are now ready to provide them with some material assets that can be stored inside permafrost. Local delivery logistics are very complicated. If we deliver food with an extended shelf life, if we store this food inside natural permafrost refrigerators, people would be able to stay there for any time period, and they would not starve," Ulanin said.

Rosrezerv depots are needed by the military, and they can also be used in case of emergencies, industrial accidents or for stabilization if, for some reason, the country is hard pressed for certain types of foods and fuel.

TaimyrTaimyr
Taimyr ©Photos by members of the Taimyr expedition

The experiment, now underway in Taimyr, does not mean that food depots can only be established there. Permafrost covers 65 percent of Russian territory, and there is enough space for Rosrezerv depots.

"We are set to build another food depot near Vorkuta which also stands on a permafrost layer, but that place is more civilized, and it is easier to get there. But a food depot in any other place will have to be guarded accordingly. There is almost no one but bears in Taimyr, and minimal security details should be posted elsewhere. We believed that it would be possible to guard the food depot with the help of some local military unit, if any," Ulanin noted.

If such depots are built inside permafrost layers, it would be possible to guard them online using modern technologies.

The next expedition will go to Taimyr eight years from now. But we can now safely say that the experiment has proved successful, Ulanin noted. It is possible to store foods inside permafrost for long periods without impairing their quality.