A man who invented a way to store mass quantities of processed foods so they could be shipped and used at later dates has won the food equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Philip Nelson originally worked at his father's tomato canning plant in Morristown in the 1950s. Much of his work was a direct result of the frustrations he encounterd at that time.

Before Nelson's inventions, food production facilities could only grow a certain amount of produce, or it might spoil before it could be shipped and used.

Now, though, it can be stored for more than a year and shipped all over the country or the world to be used later -- not just around harvest time.

"This has made the distribution of food more even," said Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation. "You can now produce large amounts of a crop that normally wouldn't be able to be consumed and slice it, cut it and store it to be used throughout the year."

Nelson made two sizeable contributions to food storage and shipping.

Firstly, he lined tanks with an epoxy resin and sterilised lines and valves, which allowed processed food to be sterilised and stored for more than a year at a time. The food could then be sent to places that needed it for later packaging rather than having to package it all at once.

Second, he created a bag-in-a-box system that allowed for the food to be stored

Nelson's inventions have also aided disaster-relief. His bags were used after the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina to get potable water and other food products to victims.

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