People are surprised after finding out what SPAM really stands for – so, do YOU know?
People are surprised after finding out what SPAM really stands for – so, do YOU know?
Love it, hate it or maybe can’t stand it – but do you know what it stands for?
SPAM, the canned meat paste that became a household staple and sandwich favorite from World War II, is still available in all good UK supermarkets.
But many of its aficionados (and haters) recently realized they had no idea what the product’s name actually means.
A recent Twitter thread, which gained thousands of followers eager to understand what the acronym stands for, decided to investigate the question.
And over the years, there have been many theories about the true meaning of the name SPAM – but the official name for the product is believed to be “spiced ham,” which is summed up in its four letters.
What does SPAM actually stand for? The compressed meat product, which is cooked in the can, has been a household staple for decades
According to The Sun, the name was first coined by Ken Digneau, the brother of an executive at the company that first produced the meat product.
After entering and winning a competition to name the product on New Year’s Eve, he was offered $100 in prize money (£97) for the name.
Although SPAM became a fixture on the British dining table in the 1960s, it was first produced in the US in 1937.
It is made by food production company Hormel, based in the state of Minnesota.
According to the Hormel website, the mysterious meat product, which comes out of the can in a perfect rectangular shape, isn’t actually as mysterious as it seems.
Hormel even claims that SPAM consists of only six ingredients.
These are: Pork containing ham meat (Hormel considers this one ingredient), salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrite.
The food company also explains how SPAM is made – by mixing all the ingredients together for 20 minutes.
Then, once the mixture has reached the right temperature, it is put into the cans and vacuum packed. The product is then cooked in the cans before being cooled.
When SPAM was first produced, it was designed to serve the needs of poor American families in a country that was rebuilding itself towards the end of the Great Depression.
When the Second World War started, two years later, the product continued to be put to good use because it could be stored for a long time and would have a shelf life.