Spam makes a comeback

Newsday reported that analysts say more Americans are turning to meat products like Spam - which averages US$2.62 (Bt85) for a 340-gram can - as a substitute for other, costlier lunch meats as they try to save on groceries and extend already-stretched food budgets. Hormel Foods last week said sales of its product had risen nearly 9 per cent in the previous 24 weeks.

David Winslow, 76, of Long Island, New York, said he was not surprised by that. He was introduced to the pork/ham lunchmeat during World War II, when "meat was rationed, so Spam was welcomed in our family".

Spam, which Winslow said he enjoyed to this day, "goes pretty far for the money. It's solid, like cheap steak, very cheap steak."

Spam was royally spoofed in a Monty Python film and the Broadway musical "Spamalot", yet in real life such canned-meat products are served once every two weeks in one out of 20 households, said Harry Balzer, an expert on food and eating trends. What's more, Spam is now available in a variety of forms, including "lite" and single-slice versions.

For some, Spam is more than a food. "It's part of the culture," said Carolyn Wyman, author of "Spam: A Biography: The Amazing True Story of America's Miracle Meat!"

"It was invented during the Depression, which is one reason it did so well."