undertaking in peacetime was, however, slow and it was the 1950s any significant progress was made. Most of the British dehydration ceased to operate when the Services requirements diminished at the end of he War, and it was left to a handful of companies to press on with the valuable research and experimentation, barely recognising, at that difficult time, the potential which was going to open up in the ensuing two decades ontacts with enthusiastic workers in the us were renewed, and now liaison with Europe was again possible. The first major breakthrough to retail consumer acceptance of dehydrated foods was, however, to occur in America, where Potato Granules hit the market in a big way. The interest in this product was, of course, stimulated again in a military context by the hostilities in Korea, and once again the manufacturing experience gained in wartime conditions played an important part in the improvement of technology and in the upgrading of the quality of the end-product in many ways In 1954, the research workers Cording and Willard of the Engineering and Development Laboratory in Philadelphia, produced Potato Flakes by using the technique of drum drying. The resultant product was a mashed potato almost indistinguishable in taste and texture from that of a freshly processing industry, which was seeking the American consumer market o mashed potato. This was a significant step forward for the new potat Simultaneously, considerable technical advances were made in the manufacture of potato granules, on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the 1958-59 processing season in the US, 7500000Olb of granules were produced, utilising 300,000 tons of potatoes, or 3 percent of the North American crop Meat dehydration also gained some impetus this time, particularly the processing of chicken granules for soup. Chicken Noodle was one of the first varieties to be promoted and to receive wide acceptance in the retail market, which had hitherto been dominated by canned sour The success of these novel convenience packs, with the advantages of low weight, low volume and portability, opened the way for the commercial pioneers of dehydration to improve the techniques of drying and packing of a wider range of vegetables and meats, than was ever contemplated during the War, in a form suitable for and attractive to soup manufacturers The latter were not always dehydrators themselves but relied for their basic ingredients on the specialists in drying, who now recognised the potential for an ever increasing range of products. Demand now went far beyond potatoes, carrots and cabbage, and extended to the more exotic field of asparagus, mushrooms, red and green peppers, celery, leeks, tomatoes, French beans, garden peas, celeriac, courgettes, spinach and chilliesundertaking in peacetime was, however, slow and it was the 1950’s before any significant progress was made. Most of the British dehydration plants ceased to operate when the Services’ requirements diminished at the end of the War, and it was left to a handful of companies to press on with the valuable research and experimentation, barely recognising, at that difficult time, the potential which was going to open up in the ensuing two decades. Contacts with enthusiastic workers in the US were renewed, and now liaison with Europe was again possible. The first major breakthrough to retail consumer acceptance of dehydrated foods was, however, to occur in America, where Potato Granules hit the market in a big way. The interest in this product was, of course, stimulated again in a military context by the hostilities in Korea, and once again the manufacturing experience gained in wartime conditions played an important part in the improvement of technology and in the upgrading of the quality of the end-product in many ways. In 1954, the research workers Cording and Willard of the Engineering and Development Laboratory in Philadelphia, produced Potato Flakes by using the technique of drum drying. The resultant product was a mashed potato almost indistinguishable in taste and texture from that of a freshly mashed potato. This was a significant step forward for the new potato processing industry, which was seeking the American consumer market. Simultaneously, considerable technical advances were made in the manufacture of potato granules, on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the 1958-59 processing season in the US, 75,000,0001b of granules were produced, utilising 300,000 tons of potatoes, or 3 percent of the North American crop that year. Meat dehydration also gained some impetus this time, particularly the processing of chicken granules for soup. Chicken Noodle was one of the first varieties to be promoted and to receive wide acceptance in the retail market, which had hitherto been dominated by canned soups. The success of these novel convenience packs, with the advantages of low weight, low volume and portability, opened the way for the commercial pioneers of dehydration to improve the techniques of drying and packing of a wider range of vegetables and meats, than was ever contemplated during the War, in a form suitable for and attractive to soup manufacturers. The latter were not always dehydrators themselves but died for their basic ingredients on the specialists in drying, who now recognised the potential for an ever increasing range of products. Demand now went far beyond potatoes, carrots and cabbage, and extended to the more exotic field of asparagus, mushrooms, red and green peppers, celery, leeks, tomatoes, French beans, garden peas, celeriac, courgettes, spinach and chillies. 8