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Into that environment strode a superman of creativity: William A. Mitchell, who received 70 patents for fake foods between 1941 and 1976. Here are four of his biggest contributions to American cuisine:
1. ARTIFICIAL TAPIOCA
Shortly after Mitchell was hired at General Foods in 1941, he received his first assignment: save tapioca pudding. During the Great Depression, tapioca became a popular dessert, a lumpy, sweet comfort food that was cheap and easy to make. The problem was that cassava, the starchy root that was its main ingredient, came from Java, Indonesia. When the Japanese invaded the island, the supply was cut off. Mitchell saved the day by figuring out that a combination of food starches mixed with gelatin made a pretty convincing substitute.
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Not all of Mitchell’s inventions were soft and squishy; some were granular and full of carbon dioxide. Pop Rocks were a wonderful mistake— they were originally designed to be mixed with water to make a carbonated soft drink.
3. TANG
Contrary to popular opinion (which was helped along by a misleading ad campaign), the powdered artificial orange drink Tang wasn’t developed for the space program. Mitchell created it, General Foods introduced it in 1959, and… it flopped. Tang limped along for a few years, until NASA, looking for something to mask the unpleasant flavor of space capsule water, selected it for John Glenn’s 1962 space mission. That did it. With a “breakfast of astronauts” advertising campaign, Tang zoomed to success.
4. COOL WHIP
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