BACKGROUND OF THE CANNING INDUSTRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000200380001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 10, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 12, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/10 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200380001-6
CLASSIFICATION CgNFZ Ei?]T f CURITy INFop, RAT - ~- -~
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 50X1
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Background. of the Canning Industry.
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PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
TXIN DD ODMIMT OOM TAIXINI IN/M ATION AIWIOTINI TMN 11 :1 AA OI/IN/1
01 TXI ONIYAD ITATII, TXI OIN AND NNAMIN101 TITLI 111 IIOTIONI 711
AND 7111 OR TXI U.N. IOWA, Al AMCNOIN. ITN TIANIN11/ION ON IINI.
LATION 07 ITI OONYIMTA TO 01 INONIIT IV AN UNAYTX/NIIDO MINION 11
/AOMIIITIO my LAN. TAD IIIIOOMOTION OA THIN TUNA IN IAIXIIITIN.
DATE DISTR. / Jan 1
NO. OF PAGES. 2?
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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1. Prior to World War I, only limited luxury iteas were to be found in the form
of canned foods in the USSR; these were dainty fish, sardines and the like,
generally imported from Prance or Italy, as the USSR at that time, had no oanning
industry of its awn.. After 1921; however, technical heap from Western Trope
was enlisted, and a number of small canning factories,sprang up in the Tladivos-
tak region and the Siberian Ice-Ocean shores. These were run by slave 3labor,
since machinery was too expensive, and canned exclusively fish, crabs, lobster
and caviar for civilian consumption, although canned shark, seal and whale aunt
was prepared for the army.
,2. Another group of canning factories sprang up, following 1921, near Imningrad,
50X1 producing canned sardines and Baltic fish, exclusively for export. In the
Caucasus, fruits and preserves were canned, while vegetables and fish were can-
50X1 nod along the Bastern shores of the Black Sea, all in limited quantity. Until
? 1=1 _I mover s^.v canned meat of any kind.
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3?
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o half its volume, then large amounts of sugar were added e-s a consbrvant; it
'was then pasteurized at a low temperature, 650 - 70o Centigrade, so as not to
destroy the vitamins'by overheating. The heating lasted for two hours; cans were
soldered beforehand, and it was a one-step sterilization process.
As far as vegetables were concerned, beans with a tomato sauce were the most
frequently,prepared; these were sterilized by beating for one hour at 700 Cen-
tigrade,,then rapidly cooled and kept for several hours in a cold state so that
remaining spores would pass into active form, then reheated once more for one
hour. In 1939, canning factories started high temperature processes after several
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/10 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200380001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/10 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200380001-6
GORFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
6.
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serious i.r i drents ; ; ' gags Vial { tub; -X ooaurxed in lieu alone, Oyu
three hundred'persons perished in-one night from v+egetables_canne& in Odessa.
The same tragedy resulted from foods canned in the ierson factory.
Tin for cons, was costly, and since,;.-the USSR had very little tin of its own, it
was decided'to add lead to tin in,-1939) this:' again resulted in mass poisoning
due to excessive lead in the alto' and the fact that cans were allowed to stand
too long before being filled' :in'i.the %factories.
much talk of the preparation of eva orated, sugarleoa mils but never
saw any in the USSR up to 1941, nor any condensed milk.~only saw
canned., sugared milk, a thick soup-like, yellowish-colored mass to which boil-
wag added. This wee very popular among children, who ate it as. one
in , eh~Ils+e, , S
,th'a.'~S9Z~-,. 8'ish:' such as hU1Jat4d, hearing a vast QLt0Q 'f -
., , ? ..,
a plastic varnish, as the Germans did, but the varnish did not adhere, "m ME
it resistant to the action of the canned stuffs,* in 1939-1940 glass containers
a re' .tstaoduaads ,thei .were heavy' 'mod Urea' ble ' v% .V ? p6PLU& , tit pads
,bought faard w,for the sake' of the giMe'" jaraq - si . ~ glaostaft t'. ware doss dity
would candy. Prior to World War II,,the USSR began purchasing autoclaves and
machinery for cleaning fruits and vegetables from Germany, in the interest of
increasing their canning efficiency, which was still done mostly by hand at that
time. In 1939, en atta pt was made by Soviet canners to coat their cone with
?
t a~:eiifant featu i n So t:: 0 >vu t;:: chat no 'Ddl vu pre
'the' u". of salicylic acid for canning fruit?i although a good dieinfeotant, it
acted adversely on the stomach and, bowels of those unfortunate enough to eat
,WW shno, r oil arse added for taste ,' nd' s call. Amotisar'; eV".* Mew Vwtu" was
l ed t1.rA1_sr- lil'1-*#s pbLihld,.,t O tms,.Pstra') tb" VMh4;_'StYsra t ofd..
0s0kad, oura$ and dried for,p '*sabltation.
i2 r.$ baurMnts: fro antld by .high-party m~tbers. .Por Chi post ' , "fond.' vu
to 10"11 canned foods !Vero cofs .dared lVAVZY iteau,r -and.- soma priaoi
~n Wor4,W II the- Soviet sr=,deyended exalueiv. Ly, oS"L'iI and ?W osnMd. fools.
by 19+1.
3dbst of. the carmi.ng plants: in that MR in 1941 mere : MAUI thii Vsrr. 96"rs3
named after the city in which they Sxisted,, and given : a; k*lftsr, s at. ". 04M
moo),' . Oanr-ing Plant, Nu bar light 1l. Also, they Vera all under military control
00NFIDXMWSBQ,MCY. INFORMATION
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/10 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200380001-6