If this was out in the open...someone could/would/might have noticed it.
Were there any used for a food stop??
Yes, it could have that benefit too. I was just pointing our or amplifying part of the story, that a "low explosive" inside a pressure cooker will make an explosion. That same "low explosive" out in the open will just burn.
-- Were there any used for a food stop? --
Unlikely.
But, thinking aout it, I know of an old fast food place that used pressure cookers. Chicken that was "broasted." I don't remember the name of the fast food chain.