What is Spam? History of the Canned Meat Product

Hormel's Precooked Luncheon Meat in a Can

Aug 29, 2008 Gareen Darakjian

Fry it up with eggs, slice it in sandwiches, or however else you choose, but what exactly is it, and where did it come from? A closer look at the curious luncheon meat.

What Is It?

Canned, precooked meat product. The phrase alone is enough to induce regurgitation. A simple search for the recipe brings up a laundry list of peculiar ingredients: Chopped pork shoulder (yum), ham meat, sugar, salt, water, and sodium nitrite, a color preservative. It is the stuff of lunchtime lore, dubbed "mystery meat" in popular culture and allegedly an acronym for "SPiced hAM." Several sources have pointed towards name theories, including Shoulder of Pork And HaM and Something Posing As Meat. After the initial popularity of the packaged meat, Hormel Foods began offering varieties of flavors including Hot & Spicy, Lite, Less Sodium, and Turkey, to name a few. The two most common ways to prepare Spam are with eggs or in sandwiches

Where Did It Come From?

A naming contest in the early 1930’s determined the mysterious moniker that is Spam, which is a product engendered by the Hormel Foods Corporation. The name change was suggested due to a loss in market shares and was an attempt at reviving the product in supermarkets. It originated in Austin, Minnesota, aptly nicknamed “Spam Town USA,” and has sold over 6 million cans in the United States.

Who Eats It?

To date, Hawaii, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands hold the title of highest rate of consumption of Spam. Interestingly, Spam was introduced into other islands in the Pacific such as Okinawa and the Phillippine Islands during the U.S. military occupation in World War II, and saw the largest use of Spam since fresh meat was difficult to get to the soldiers on the front lines. Soldiers would incorporate the meat into every meal, which eventually made its way into the diets of the natives of the occupied regions. In Japan, the meat is incorporated into many dishes in the Okinawa region, served mostly fried with rice and in noodle dishes.

What People Say About It

Because of its folkloric nature, Spam has been cited in many popular media. A lawsuit was even involved on one occasion when Jim Henson Productions fought for the right to name a muppet "Spa'am." Spamela Hamderson was also a character employed by Henson. Pop culture satirist, "Weird Al" Yankovic penned the parody "Spam," a spin off of R.E.M.'s song "Stand." The New York Times also documented John Nagamichi Cho, who compiled a web archive of Spam Haiku. It was cited that 19,696 Haikus about spam were submited by users from all over the world.

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