WEBVTT - Should You Eat A 106-Year-Old Fruitcake?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Sager here. The lonely fruitcake, rich and candied fruit,

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<v Speaker 1>nuts and spices, and heavy with Roman brandy, has become

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<v Speaker 1>a much maligned confection that doubles as a punch line.

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<v Speaker 1>But hey, the joke may be on us. While we

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<v Speaker 1>succumb to rising seas, roaming zombies, or warring dictators, the

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<v Speaker 1>lowly fruitcake hunkers down for survival. Fruitcakes may outlast us

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<v Speaker 1>all case in point, a one hundred and six year

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<v Speaker 1>old fruitcake, still in its original tin, has been discovered

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<v Speaker 1>at the Cape a Deer outpost in Victoria Land, East Antarctica,

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<v Speaker 1>and according to conservationists, it's almost edible. Stored properly, a

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<v Speaker 1>fruitcake can easily aged to thirty years and still be eaten.

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<v Speaker 1>But more than a century the aged fruit cake, found

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<v Speaker 1>wrapped in a wax paper inside a ten spent the

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<v Speaker 1>majority of the nineteen hundreds in a long abandoned research station.

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<v Speaker 1>It dates back to the Terra Nova Antarctic expedition, which

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<v Speaker 1>was conducted from nineteen ten to nineteen thirteen. Robert Falcon Scott,

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<v Speaker 1>a British explorer who led the mission listed the food

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<v Speaker 1>stuff among the camp's inventory. A New Zealand based team

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<v Speaker 1>from the Antarctic Heritage Trust recovered the fruit cake and

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<v Speaker 1>about fifteen hundred other artifacts from historic huts at Cape

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<v Speaker 1>a Deer. The huts, which were the first ever built

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<v Speaker 1>on Antarctica, were fashioned in eighteen ninety nine by Carston

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<v Speaker 1>Borch Grivink, a Norwegian explorer, and used again in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eleven by Captain Scott and other members of his expedition,

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<v Speaker 1>two months after the team launched the foray to the

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<v Speaker 1>geographic South Pole. Scott and his team finally achieved their

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<v Speaker 1>goal on January seventeenth, nineteen twelve, only to discover a

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<v Speaker 1>Norwegian flag. It had been planted and left by explorer

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<v Speaker 1>roled Emunson, who had become the first human to reach

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<v Speaker 1>it thirty three days Prior blizzards delayed their return, and

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<v Speaker 1>Scott and his team died at the end of March

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen twelve. Their bodies and diaries were found eight

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<v Speaker 1>months later, and the huts they once occupied have become

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<v Speaker 1>a historic monument. The conservationist team that recovered the Scott

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<v Speaker 1>artifacts began working on the site in May of twenty sixteen.

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<v Speaker 1>Other items, including meat, fish and canned jams. Hmmm, did

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<v Speaker 1>not fare as well as that fruitcake. In a statement,

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<v Speaker 1>Lizzie Meek, the Trust's program manager for Artifacts, wrote that

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<v Speaker 1>there was a very slight rancid butter smell to it,

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<v Speaker 1>but other than that the cake looked and smelled edible.

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<v Speaker 1>She had no doubt that the extreme cold and antarctica

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<v Speaker 1>had assisted the preservation. At a specialized lab in the

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<v Speaker 1>Canterbury Museum in christ Church, New Zealand, the fruit cakes

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<v Speaker 1>container will undergo rust removal, chemical stabilization and a repair

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<v Speaker 1>of the wax paper covering the fruit cake. The cake, however,

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<v Speaker 1>will be left to its own devices. After proper restoration,

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<v Speaker 1>the fruit cake will be returned to the hut where

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<v Speaker 1>it was found in the Antarctic, which is now part

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<v Speaker 1>of an Antarctic Specially Protected Area. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Laurie L. Dove, produced by Dylan Fagan, and for

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and other topics, please visit us at

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot com.