Antarctica Fruitcake Is Over 100 Years Old, and ‘Almost’ Edible
unexpected places." There is documentation showing
that Scott took this brand of cake with him on his explorations, said the trust, a nonprofit organization that is in the business of "inspiring explorers." Lizzie Meek, program manager for artifacts at the trust, said in a statement that the cake was surprisingly well preserved. that biscuits were exported all over the world and their tins have turned up in the most
The cake, dating to the Cape Adare-based Northern Party of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition (1910-13), was found in Antarctica’s oldest
building, which was constructed by a Norwegian explorer’s team in 1899 and used by Scott’s team in 1911, the trust said.
In one of the most hostile regions known to humankind, conservationists unearthed an ice-covered fruitcake they believe once
belonged to the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, the New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust said this past week.
Living and working in Antarctica tends to lead to a craving for high-fat, high-sugar food,
and fruitcake fits the bill nicely, not to mention going very well with a cup of tea." The team finished part of the conservation project in July, the trust said.
"There is no doubt the extreme cold in Antarctica has assisted its preservation." The cake was among about 1,500 artifacts
collected from two huts by a team of conservationists that had been working at the site since May 2016.
The next phase will be conservation work on the buildings at Cape Adare, the first in Antarctica
and the only examples left of humanity’s first building on any continent, the trust says.
