Sardines
Underwood
Underwood is an 1822 Boston brand — holder of the oldest food trademark still in use in the US — that once canned sardines alongside its famous deviled ham, but discontinued its entire sardine line years ago and today, under B&G Foods, sells only meat spreads.
At a glance
| Country | USA |
|---|---|
| Region | North America |
| Founded | 1822 Founded in Boston in 1822 by English immigrant William Underwood. Post-1980s ownership history is muddled across sources: Wikipedia states the family business was sold to Pet, Inc. in 1982 (Pet later acquired by Pillsbury in 1995, with B&G Foods buying the Underwood brand in 1999); at least one secondary blog instead states a 1983 sale to Borden. B&G Foods is the confirmed current owner regardless of the exact chain of custody. |
| Company | Legacy brand, no longer producing sardines |
| Owner | B&G Foods, Inc. (since 1999) |
Notable facts
- William Underwood founded the company in Boston in 1822; it shifted from glass packing to tin cans in 1836.
- Underwood's deviled ham, first canned in 1868, carries the 'red devil' logo trademarked in 1870 — described by the brand itself as the oldest registered trademark still in use for a prepackaged food product in the US.
- In the 1890s, William Lyman Underwood (the founder's grandson) worked with MIT researchers Samuel Prescott and William Sedgwick on canned-clam spoilage, research that helped establish modern food-sterilization standards.
- Underwood also historically produced canned sardines, lobster, and oysters, alongside its meat spreads.
- Underwood's own FAQ page confirms directly: 'the complete line of Underwood sardines was discontinued years ago' — no sardine products remain in the current lineup, which is now limited to deviled ham, corned beef, chicken, liverwurst, roast beef, and maple ham spreads.
- B&G Foods, Inc. is the current owner of the Underwood brand.
Origin
Underwood is one of the oldest brand names in American food. William Underwood, an English immigrant, started the business in Boston in 1822 and moved from glass jars to tin cans in 1836, eventually canning sardines, lobster, and oysters alongside the deviled ham that made the brand famous. The deviled-ham "red devil" logo, trademarked in 1870, is still described by the company as the oldest registered food trademark in continuous use in the United States. In the 1890s the founder's grandson, William Lyman Underwood, worked with MIT researchers on canned-clam spoilage — research that helped establish the sterilization standards the entire canning industry still relies on.
The independent company was eventually sold out of family hands (accounts differ on the exact buyer and year — Pet, Inc. in 1982 per some sources, Borden in 1983 per others), passing through Pillsbury before B&G Foods acquired the Underwood brand in 1999. Somewhere along that path the sardine line was quietly discontinued — Underwood's own FAQ confirms it outright — leaving the brand to survive today purely as a meat-spread name: deviled ham, corned beef, chicken, liverwurst, roast beef, and a newer maple ham. It's included here for historical completeness as a brand that helped define American canned sardines for well over a century, even though it no longer sells any.
Products
The full product line for Underwood is being catalogued — check back as our verification program fills it in.