The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-04-25
NEW FOODS PRODUCED BY NEW
METHOD.
A COMPANY IS ORGANIZED
To Carry on Business Of Popping
Potatoes, Rice, Biscuits and
Other Starch Foods.

Minneapolis, April 22.-If popcorn
had been q German delecatessen in
stead OF q favorite American refresh
ment, this country might have lost
the credit Of making one Of the most
important discoveries Of the age with
relation to food products. As Vt is,
DR.. A. T. Anderson, a University Of
Minnesota. graduate, has made a prac-
tical discovery which promises to
revolutionize many branches of indus
try having to do with starch foods.
He left Minneapolis the other day for
New York with q check for $4,000
advanced by Minneapolis capitalists
who have formed q $25O,000 stock
company to develop and handle the
process. DR.. Anderson did his first
original research along this line
while q student In the botanical de-
partment Of the Universit yof Mime
sofa. Later he went to Munich, where
he took his Phi. d. degree, and he is
now connected with Columbia uni
versty in New York.
DR.. Anderson's starting point was
the phenomenal action Of popcorn UNI
der the influence of heat. Already
he has succeeded in adding something
like 60 distinct new foods to the list
of starch products, and 1t is believed
that his process will prove Of i'm
ems commercial value. A CON-
pany has been formed for the erection
of q plant for the manufacture Of
these foods and work will probably
begin shortly. The company is made
up largely of Minneapolis men.
Professor Anderson's process is bas-
ed upon the fact that all starch-bear-
ing foods can be made to pop" just
as corn pops when subjected to heat.
He experimental with the belief that
this was true, and discovered that
he could not only pop rice, but pota-
toes and other food products as well.
Moreover, the resultant foods were
found to embody many advantages
lacking in the natural product. For
potatoes can be popped and
then compressed into solid cakes by
hydraulic pressure. These cakes are
easily preserved and are easy to car
ry. In order to transform them into
mashed potatoes, for example, all
that Is necessary is the addition Of a
little water or milk.
Rich when popped swells up to sew
eral times It's own bulk and makes a
delicate food that actually melts away
when placed upon the tongue. With
other products similar excellent re-
suits were secured.
The process Of popping" Is not In
the least complicated. 1t had been
generally supposed that corn popped
because OF the moisture contained in
each individual starch cell. That
theory, however, Professor Anderson
discarded. He studied the subject
thoroughly, beginning his investiga-
lions at the university here, and con-
tinuing them in Germany and after
wards at Columbia university, until
finally he made up his mind that the
popping was due to the expansion Of
moisture inside the corn. the cover
Ing OF which he believed to be air
tight.
The theory is this: Instead Of the
explosion Of the kernal being caused
by the bursting Of the individual
starch cells, the phenomenon Is caus-
ed by the bursting Of the outer n
velope Of the kernal, thus suddenly
relieving the pressure generated by
the heat acting upon the moisture
contained in the grain. This called
for three factors in q demonstration
heat, pressure and a sudden release
Of the pressure. The next step was
the construction of q steel cylinder
which, on a larger scale, should rep
resent the envelope Of the popcorn
kernel. In this cylinder were placed
pieces of raw potato and the recepta-
Gle was closed and submitted to an
interior pressure of three or four at
mospheres. Heat above 22O degrees
Fahrenheit was applied for a time
and then the pressure was suddenly
released. The result proved beyond
peradventure the truth Of the theory,
for there gushed up from the cylider
a snow-white toothsome mass of "pop-
ped" potato, as light as pith but con-
tanning all the nutrition Of the origi-
nal tuber. This is the product that