Chill Out: Time to Warm Up to Frozen Food Month

By Greg Moore, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Mar. 23–In just a week March will be over. You know, out like a lamb.

And gone with it will be the chance to properly celebrate frozen food.

Seriously. March is national Frozen Food Month. Cool. Get it? Cool.

And though Frozen Food Month doesn’t have the weight of Black History Month or Women’s History Month, frozen food deserves celebration, too.

Why? At more than $40 billion in annual sales, frozen foods represent roughly one-third of total food service sales. Frozen pizza alone accounted for $2.74 billion in sales in 2003, according to the American Frozen Food Institute.

Also, a recent poll conducted by Tupperware said that on an average trip to the supermarket, 94 percent of shoppers buy frozen food sometimes and 30 percent say they buy frozen food on every shopping trip.

Chances are, if you eat today, you will likely eat something previously stored at subzero temperatures.

So if you haven’t taken time to commemorate frozen food, here’s your chance. We’re giving more tips than you’ll ever need on how to throw your own frozen food party.

One quick thing before we begin: The food: Mark Lehmkuhl (pronounce “lem-cool”) is the general manager of the Schwan’s Depot in Parkville. He recommends frozen appetizers like mozzarella sticks, taquitos, breaded mushrooms and quesadilla dips.

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The vocabulary

chill — relax

chillin’ — having a good time

cold — marked by a lack of the warmth of normal human emotion

coldcock — to knock unconscious

cold feet — apprehension or doubt

cold shoulder — intentionally unsympathetic treatment

cold turkey — abrupt cessation of the use of an addictive substance

cool — good, excellent, fashionable

cool your jets — issued as a command, relax

freeze — issued as a command, don’t move

freeze out — exclude

frigid — abnormally averse to sexual intercourse

put on ice — delay

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A timeline

The ’30s

— Clarence Birdseye launches retail sales of frozen food products.

— The Birdseye Frosted Food Co. sells meat, fish, oysters, vegetables and fruit from low-temperature display cases in selected stores.

— The Postum Co., which later became General Foods Corp., buys Birdseye’s food freezing patents.

The ’40s

— Annual frozen food production rises from slightly over 1.5 billion pounds to 2.5 billion pounds.

The ’50s

— Frozen food sales exceed $1 billion mark.

— 64 percent of all grocery stores have frozen food “cabinets.”

Swanson introduces the first TV dinner.

The ’60s

— The microwave oven is introduced.

— McDonald’s uses frozen fish and meat patties.

The ’70s

— Burger King begins using frozen meat patties.

The ’80s

— Frozen low-calorie entrees are introduced.

— Fast-food items are frozen for retail.

The ’90s

— FDA deems frozen fruit and vegetables to have equivalent or superior nutrient profiles as their fresh counterparts.

Source: American Frozen Food Institute

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Kansas connections

— Schwan’s food plant in Salina, Kan., is the world’s largest frozen-pizza manufacturing plant.

— In the late 1950s at a Dairy Queen in Coffeyville, Kan., the Slurpee was born.

— If you want to be a food scientist, consider going to Kansas State University, which is home to the Food Science Institute, established in 2001. The institute specializes in food chemistry, food microbiology, food safety, cereal science, dairy science, meat science, food service, sensory analysis, food engineering and nutrition.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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