UK: We already knew it and now it's official - refrigeration is the greatest invention in the history of food and drink. So says the Royal Society, the UK's pre-eminent national academy of science.
The announcement is the outcome of a project which saw a steering group of Royal Society Fellows - including a Nobel prize winner - reduce a list of approximately 100 innovations down to just 20.  The shortlist was then voted on by Fellows of the Society and experts in the food and drink industry who judged each innovation on four criteria: accessibility, productivity, aesthetics, and health. The final decision saw refrigeration out on top, beating such vital items as the plough, the fishing net and the knife.

Royal Society treasurer Sir Peter Williams FRS, who chaired the panel, commented 'Royal Society Fellows have played vital roles in improving people's lives for 350 years and science has a major role to play in meeting the global challenges of the 21st century. We thought it appropriate to look at how that innovation has shaped what we eat and drink.  The poll reveals the huge role science and innovation have played in improving our health and our lives. This is something to which the scientific community continues to add.'

The Top 20
1. Refrigeration
2. Pasteurisation / sterilisation
3. Canning
4. The oven
5. Irrigation
6. Threshing  machine/combine harvester
7. Baking
8. Selective breeding / strains
9. Grinding / milling
10. The plough
11. Fermentation
12. The fishing net
13. Crop rotation
14. The pot
15. The knife
16. Eating utensils
17. The cork
18. The barrel
19. The microwave oven
20. Frying