So how did Spam lead to the popularity of canned corned beef? According to The Jewish News, the Israeli Defense Forces wanted to feed tinned meat to their conscripts, but they had a problem: Spam wasn’t kosher. After World War II, the IDF developed its own kosher canned corned beef called Loof (short for “meatloaf”). It continued to serve Loof to soldiers through the early 21st century because the product could last decades if stored correctly. One Israeli soldier said in 2011 that he ate a can of Loof made before he was born. It turns out, age hadn’t affected the Loof at all, and in the words of the soldier, “It wasn’t bad.”
Israel isn’t the only military that relied on canned corned beef. The British fed it to their fighting men from the 19th century through WWII (via We Are Not Foodies).
Read More: https://www.mashed.com/627381/the-untold-truth-of-canned-corned-beef/?utm_campaign=clip
