610 A.D. - Pretzels originated in Southern France or Northern Italy; young monk prepared unleavened bread for Lent (Christian period of fasting and penitence before Easter) in the shape of Christians' praying with their arms folded across their chests, each hand on the opposite shoulder; twisted leftover dough from bread into this shape, used it as a treat for the children to recite their prayers; named twisted bread 'pretiola' (Latin for 'little reward');   centuries following -  pretzel's form became symbol of good luck, long life and prosperity.

June 4, 1070 - Roquefort cheese created in cave near Roquefort, France.

1630 - Mogi family started making soy sauce in Japan; 1861 - Mogi-Takanashi families established Kikkoman.

April 10, 1633 - Thomas Johnson, of Snow Hill, London, displayed bananas in his shop window, first time on sale in Britain; 1884 - Elder Dempster and Co. regularly imported bananas from the Canary Islands into Britain.

May 7, 1660 - Isaack B Fubine, of Savoy, The Hague, patented macaroni.

May 1, 1683 - A patent was awarded in England for the extraction of salt from sea water.

June 10, 1720 - Mrs. Clements, of Durham, England marketed first paste-style mustard (biting-hot mustard powder); found a way to mill the heart of the seed to a fine flour. This became the standard method of processing the seed for use as a spice, both in cooking and in prepared mustards.

1728 - Walter Churchman started apothecary business in Bristol, England; 1729 - granted Letters Patent by George II for a chocolate making process; 1761 - Quaker, Doctor Joseph Fry, purchased patent and recipes from Charles Churchman (son); 1787 - business passed to wife and son, Joseph Storrs Fry; named J.S. Fry & Sons, oldest chocolate firm in Britain; 1847 - Fry's chocolates factory molded first "chocolate bar".

February 15, 1758 - Benjamin Jackson, who had set up business in Globe Mills, Germantown, Philadelphia, first advertised mustard for sale in America; sold mustard packed in glass bottles with his label on them; claimed to be "the original establisher of the mustard manufactory in American, and ... at present, the only manufacturer on the continent," and that he had brought the art with him from London to America.

March 8, 1765 - John Hannon, financed by James Baker, began producing one of first North American-made chocolate products, using water power, in Dorchester, MA; May 16, 1771 - Baker prepared to go into chocolate business on his own, bought what is believed to be his first order of cocoa beans; July 2, 1772 - made first recorded sale of chocolate; 1779 - Hannon lost at sea on cacao bean buying trip to West Indies; 1780 - Baker bought out John Hannon’s widow, took over full ownership of business, produced first known chocolate branded as "Baker’s"; 1791 - Edmund Baker (son, 21) entered into partnership; 1806 - built first Baker family mill for chocolate, grist, cloth; 1818 - Walter Baker (grandson) became partner; 1824 - took over; 1852 - employee Sam German created Baker's German Sweet Chocolate; 1854 - Walter baker estate trustees appointed Henry Pierce (nephew) to run company; 1883 - adopted La Belle Chocolatière (by  Swiss artist Jean-Etienne Liotard) as Baker’s official company trademark; 1884 - Pierce obtained full ownership of Walter Baker & Company from Baker estate trustees; 1895 - incorporated company officially as Walter Baker & Company, Ltd.; 1896 - acquired by Forbes Syndicate for $4.75 million; July 4, 1905 - registered La Belle Chocolatière design first used in 1877 (Colonial dress, women wearing; Hoop skirts); August 21, 1906 - registered "Baker's" trademark first used in October 1836 cocoa, chocolate, [broma] and cocoa preparations); July 12, 1921 - registered "German's" trademark first used in January 1910 (sweet chocolate); 1927 - acquired by Potsum Company (General Foods); 1989 - acquired by Kraft Foods.

1777 - Maurice Grey, who had developed a secret recipe for a strong mustard made with white wine, formed a partnership with Auguste Poupon, who supplied the financial backing to manufacture the product, in Dijon, France; introduced the first automatic mustard machines.

May 12, 1777 - Philip Lenzi, London confectioner, ran first advertisement for ice cream in U.S. in New York Gazette; announced he will be offering for sale various confections, including ice cream.

June 8, 1786 - Mr. Hall of 76 Chatham Street (now Park Row) advertised first commercially-made ice cream in the U.S.; May 17, 1784 - George Washington's expense ledger recorded purchase of "a cream machine for ice" (non-commercial production of ice-cream).

1790 - Henry Wood, of Henry Wood & Son, commission merchant (wholesaler), distributed flour brought by English ships to Long Wharf in Boston's harbor; 1838 - Henry Wood and partner, George J. Cook, bought Richards and Co., flour company; 1840 - John Low Sands joined company started as a salesman, became part owner; 1895 - Orin E. Sands (youngest son of John Low Sands), Mark C.Taylor, George E. Wood owned company in limited partnership; renamed Sands, Taylor & Wood Co. (ST & W); October 1896 - introduced King Arthur Flour ('Never Bleached, Never Bromated') at Boston Food Fair; made of only hard, red, spring wheat from Minnesota and Canada; high-protein wheat produced more gluten, absorbed moisture better, made yeast-baked goods rise better, kept baked goods fresher for longer time; July 1, 1904 - incorporated as Sands, Taylor & Wood Co.; 1917 - Frank Edgar Sands (Ben's son) took over Presidency upon Orin's death; 1944 - Walter Sands (Frank's son) elected ST & W president; 1967 - Edgar Sands II (Walter's son) became president;  acquisitions made ST & W largest New England distributor of bakery supplies; 1990 - published mail-order catalog under title The Baker's Catalogue; 1996 - Sands Family established an employee stock-ownership plan; 1998 - Catalogue mailed to some 3.5 million people, accounted for $10 million in sales; July 1, 1999 - name changed to The King Arthur Flour Company; oldest flour company, earliest food company in New England.

February 2, 1795 - Nicholas Appert, French chef who invented way to can food, won prize of 12,000 francs offered by French government for method of preserving, transporting food to its armies; developed  method of heating food in airtight glass jars.

February 14, 1803 - Moses Coates, of Coatsville, PA, received a patent for a "Machine for Paring Apples."

November 13, 1805 - Johann Georg Lehner invented hot dog.

April 17, 1810 - Lewis Mills Norton, of Goshen, CT, received a patent for a "Vat for Pineapple Cheese".

1814 - Jeremiah Colman, flour miller, took over mustard manufacturing business based on river Tas, four miles south of Norwich; 1823 - took adopted nephew, James, into partnership in new firm; named J & J Colman; 1866 - red and yellow livery introduced to label; granted Royal Warrant as manufacturers to Queen Victoria; 1938 - merged with Reckitt & Sons; renamed Reckitt & Colman; 1995 - acquired by Unilever.

February 3, 1815 - World's first commercial cheese factory established, in Switzerland.

1818 - Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge founded Bunge & Co. in Amsterdam, Netherlands as import/export trading business; 1859 - Edouard Bunge (grandson) relocated company to Antwerp, Belgium (one of world's leading commodities traders); 1884 - expanded to South America; Ernest Bunge (grandson) founded Bunge y Born in Argentina; 1905 - entered wheat milling business in Brazil; 1918 - entered North American market; 1923 - established Bunge North American Grain Corporation; 1935 - purchased first sizable grain facility, Midway, rail terminal in Minneapolis, MN; 1943 - name changed to Bunge Corporation; 1945 - first export of Brazilian soybeans (largest exporter of agricultural products in 2008); 1961 - opened export grain-handling elevator in Lousiana (centerpiece of U.S. export business); 1987 - acquired Carlin Food Corp. (served retail, wholesale bakers, foodservice operators, food processors); 1997-2004 - largest fertilizer producer, soy processor in South America; 1998 - built largest soybean crushing, refining plant in U.S. in Iowa; 1999 - moved headquarters to White Plains, NY; 2001 - went public; 2002 - world's largest soy processor, supplier of bottled oils to consumers; June 23, 2008 - announced acquisition of Corn Products International (fourth-largest maker of high-fructose corn syrup in U.S.) for $4.4. billion (foothold in syrups, sweeteners business); third largest agribusiness company in U. S. by revenue (Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland).

1822 - Englishman William Underwood set up small condiment business on Boston's Russia Wharf; 1836 - started packing his products in tin canisters (cans); 1868 - Underwood's sons began experimenting with new product created from ground ham blended with special seasonings; called process they "deviling" (new way to cook, prepare ham, taste was unique); 1870 - company registered  Underwood devil logo trademark; 1895 - advertising with little red devil began to appear nationally; May 23, 1939 - William Underwood Company registered "Underwood" trademark first used June 1, 1937 (canned deviled ham);  2006 - oldest existing trademark still in use in United States.

January 1, 1823 - John Wheeley Lea, William Henry Perrins, of Worcester, UK, formed partnership; August 28, 1837 - began to produce Worcestershire Sauce commercially; May 31, 1892 - Lea & Perrins Firm registered "Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce" trademark; 1904 - granted rare Royal Warrant by King Edward VII; 1916 - granted The Spanish Royal Warrant by King of Spain; June 11, 1930 - acquired by HP Foods.

1824 - John Cadbury (22) opened his first shop in Birmingham, England.

January 19, 1825 - Ezra Daggett and his nephew Thomas Kensett, of New York City, received a patent for "Preserving Animal Substances"; food storage in cans; 1819 - introduced method for canned salmon, oysters and lobsters; 1813 - tin cans had been used by the military and explorers in Europe but their development did not start until after the Civil War.

1827 - John Morrell & Co. founded in Bradford, Yorkshire, England; local woolcomber George Morrell bought barge load of oranges in local canal with 80 pound bequest left to his wife by an uncle; sold oranges at profit in streets of Bradford; started business in produce, butter, eggs, cheese, bacon, hams; 1864 - U.S.-based operations established in New York; December 1967 - acquired by AMK Corporation; 1970 - merged with United Fruit, renamed United Brands; December 1995 - acquired by Smithfield Foods for $60 million; considered to be the oldest continuously operating meat manufacturer in the U.S.

1828 - Dutch inventor Hendrik Van Houten patented Van Houten cocoa press; helped in defatting, alkalizing process (also known as "Dutching") to achieve more pure chocolate; put Dutch at forefront of cocoa processing.

August 14, 1834 - Jacob Perkins, of Newburyport, MA, received British patent  for "Improvement in the Apparatus and Means for Producing Ice, and in Cooling Fluids" ("volatile fluid for the purpose of producing the cooling and freezing ... and yet at the same time condensing such volatile fluids, and bringing them into operation without waste"); refrigerating machine; vapor-compression machine using sulphuric ether compression in a closed cycle.

March 12, 1841 - Orlando Jones (City Road, England) received first U.S. patent for "Improvement in the Manufacture of Starch" ("new and useful improvements in the treating or operating on farinaceous matters to obtain starch and other products, and in the manufacture of starch"); used alkali to speed up starch making process (corn starch); shortened production time, increased yield, left by-products in a condition suitable for further uses.

1842 - Samuel R. Mott founded Mott's in Bouckville, New York; made cider with the help of hitched horses that plodded in a circle, crushed apples between two large stone drums at the center of the 'sweep'; crushed apples shoveled into a crib with slatted sides, packed in straw, pressed by three men leaning on a lengthy level that operated a jack screw; golden juice ran off into a tank beneath and was ready for bottling; 1900 - Mott Company merged with the W.B. Duffy Cide