What was cooking fat used for in ww2

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Ration Books Two, Three, and Four included blue stamps for processed foods and red stamps for meat, cheese, and fats. Each person received 64 red stamps each month, providing about 12 pounds of fats per year. The vital substance of glycerin comes from fats. In the United States, most glycerin came from the production of soap—when fats and lye are combined, soap and glycerin are formed.

Glycerin is a crucial ingredient in the manufacture of explosives such as nitroglycerin. It was also needed for other military uses—as a lubricant, in protective paint for planes and tanks, in hydraulics, in the production of cellophane for food wrappers, and in dyes for uniforms. In addition, glycerin is vital in pharmaceuticals as a solvent, protectant, and emollient.

To free up some of the supply, glycerin use was restricted or removed from civilian products such as beverages, gum, antifreeze, tobacco, cosmetics, lotions, soaps, and shampoo. Pharmacists learned to use other solvents to make suspensions and elixirs. However, more glycerin was needed, so America turned to the housewife to provide more fats. During World War II, The American Fat Salvage Committee was created to urge housewives to save all the excess fat left over from cooking and donate it to the army to help them produce explosives.

Housewives were directed to strain the left over fats and store them. Once a pound or more was collected, it was to be handed over to any one of , participating butchers, retail meat dealers or 4, frozen food plants who would then turn the fat over to the army.