A 106-year-old fruitcake found in an old building is still edible

kehinde omotosho

August 18, 2017 12:16 PM

Thanks to Antarctica’s frigid environment, A fruitcake thought to be 106 years old was recently discovered and it still looks and smell edible.

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Who would have thought that a piece of cake can survive over a hundred years and still remain edible?

A fruitcake thought to be 106 years old was recently uncovered by conservators in an extremely remote Antarctic's oldest building, which was used as a shelter by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott during his Terra Nova expedition to Cape Adare from 1910 to 1913.

According to the conservation manager, Lizzie Meek, told National Geographic, “There was a very, very slight rancid butter smell to it, but other than that, the cake looked and smelled edible. There is no doubt the extreme cold in Antarctica has assisted its preservation.”

Thanks to Antarctica’s frigid environment, the specimen was found in “excellent condition,” wrapped in paper, protected inside a “tin-plated iron alloy tin.” The fruitcake was among 1,500 artefacts excavated from two huts since the team started work at the site in May 2016.

"Finding such a perfectly preserved fruitcake among them was quite a surprise," Meek said. "It's an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is still a favourite item on modern day trips to the ice."

kehinde omotosho