Corn flakes

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Corn flakes
Cornflakes in bowl.jpg
Corn flakes in a bowl
Origin
Place of origin United States
Region or state Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan
Creator(s) Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (1894)
W.K. Kellogg
Dish details
Main ingredient(s) Milled corn
Sugar
Malt flavoring
High fructose corn syrup
Variations multiple

Corn flakes are a popular breakfast cereal originally manufactured by Kellogg's through the treatment of corn (maize). A patent for the product was registered on May 31, 1894 under the name Granose.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Corn was of critical importance to the Native Americans called Hopi. In an area where food was often scarce, corn provided a relatively stable food supply with important nutritional value. Corn is pounded into flour and made into tortillas as well as into piki. Piki is cornbread spread into a very thin layer, almost paper thin, that is then baked in an oven.

The accidental legacy of corn flakes goes back to the late 19th century, when a team of Seventh-day Adventists began to develop new food to meet the standards of their strict vegan diet. Members of the group experimented with a number of different grains, including wheat, oats, rice, barley, and of course corn. In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan and an Adventist, used these recipes as part of a strict vegetarian regimen for his patients, which also included no alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine. The diet he imposed consisted entirely of bland foods. A follower of Sylvester Graham, the inventor of graham crackers and graham bread and supporter of sexual abstinence, Kellogg believed that spicy or sweet foods would increase passions. In contrast, cornflakes would have an anaphrodisiac property and lower the sex drive.[2]

This idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they found instead were flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients. This event occurred on August 08, 1894, and a patent for "Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same" was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896, under the name Granose.[3][4][5]

The flakes of grain were a very popular food among the patients. The brothers then experimented with other flakes from other grains. In 1906, Will Keith Kellogg, who served as the business manager of the sanitarium, decided to try to mass-market the new food. At his new company, Kellogg's, he added sugar to the flakes to make them more palatable to a mass audience, but this caused a rift between him and his brother. To increase sales, in 1909 he added a special offer, the Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Booklet, which was made available to anyone who bought two boxes of the cereal. This same premium was offered for 22 years. At the same time, Kellogg also began experimenting with new grain cereals to expand his product line. Rice Krispies, his next great hit, first went on sale in 1928.[6]


There have been many mascots of Kellog's Cornflakes. The most popular one is a green rooster named Cornelius Rooster and he has still been the mascot since his debut. In earlier commerecials he had a speaking part and his catchprhase was "Wake up, up, up to Kellog's Cornflakes." Later he stopped talking and just crows. The cereal cover of Cornelius is a fancy drawing.

[edit] Cereals derived from cornflakes

A former patient of the Battle Creek Sanitarium named C. W. Post started a rival company, as well as the major other brand of corn flakes in the United States, called Post Toasties. Australia's Sanitarium also manufactures their own brand of corn flakes called Skippy corn flakes. In addition there are many generic brands of corn flakes produced by various manufacturers.

[edit] Ingredients

Advertisement, 1910s
Corn flakes can be eaten with yogurt or milk.

Kellogg's Corn Flakes

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Corn Flakes". http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/corn-flakes/. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  2. ^ "Dr. John Harvey Kellogg". http://www.oocities.com/Athens/oracle/9840/kellogg.html. Retrieved 2007-06-26. 
  3. ^ See patent no. 558393 (via Google Patents)
  4. ^ "News of the Odd, John Harvey Kellogg Serves Corn Flakes at the San, 1897". http://www.newsoftheodd.com/content/view/214/. Retrieved 2007-06-26. 
  5. ^ "Inventor of the Week : W.K Kellogg". http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/kellogg.html. Retrieved 2007-06-26. 
  6. ^ "100 Years of Cornflakes". http://www.kaplanink.com/uploads/Cereal%20City%20story%20web%20no%20pics.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-26. 

[edit] External links

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