A spoonful of breakfast cereal of the corn-flake type, with milk and strawberry.
A breakfast cereal is a food product designed especially to be marketed to consumers as a ready-made breakfast food. Though cereal foods such as porridge are a staple of daily meals in many countries around the world, in wealthier, consumer-conscious nations such as the United States, entire industries have been created dedicated to the sale of specialized products, such as breakfast cereals. Breakfast cereals are generally eaten cold and mixed with milk as opposed to hot cereals like oatmeal, grits, etc.
Breakfast cereals are marketed to all ages. For adults, companies such as Kellogg's, Quaker Oats, and General Mills promote their products for the health benefits gained from eating oat-based and high fiber cereals. Nevertheless, the vast majority of breakfast cereal sold is marketed to young children. Cereal manufacturers have been criticized for manufacturing breakfast cereals with a heavy sugar content aimed at children. Sugar-laden breakfast cereals have been extremely popular with children for decades, and many adults also buy them out of nostalgia (also because they enjoy the taste). Manufacturers often fortify breakfast cereals with various vitamins to allay concerns that their products are not very nutritious.
From bowel relief to sugary treat
Breakfast cereals have their root in the temperance movement in the United States in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Americans were still eating essentially an English breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, beef, and low on fiber. As such, many people suffered painful and debilitating gastrointestinal disorders. The first breakfast cereal, Granula (named after granules) was invented in 1863 by James Caleb Jackson, operator of the Dansville Sanitorium in Dansville, New York and a staunch vegetarian. Despite its high fiber content, the cereal never became popular. It was far too inconvenient, the heavy bran nuggets needing to be soaked overnight before they were tender enough to eat.
The next generation of breakfast cereals was considerably more convenient, and, combined with clever marketing, they finally managed to catch on. John Harvey Kellogg, a Seventh Day Adventist and the operator of the Battle Creek Sanitorium, invented in 1887 a ground up wheat, oat, and cornmeal biscuit for his patients suffering from bowel problems, Granola (initially also named Granula, but changed after a lawsuit). His most famous contribution, however, was an accident. After leaving a batch of boiled wheat soaking overnight and rolling it out, Kellogg had created wheat flakes. His brother Will Kellogg later invented corn flakes from a similar method, bought out his brother's share in their business, and went on to found the Kellogg Company in 1906. With his shrewd marketing and advertising, Kellogg's sold their one millionth case after three years. A patient at the Battle Creek Sanitorium, Charles William Post, also made significant contributions to breakfast cereals. After his 1893 visit, he started his own sanitorium, the La Vita Inn, and developed his own coffee substitute, Postum. In 1897, Post invented Grape Nuts and, coupled with a nation-wide advertising campaign, became a leader in the cereal business.
By the 1930s, Kellogg had invented a puffing gun, inventing the first puffed cereal, Kix. Soon shredding was introduced, yielding Shredded Wheat. Starting after World War II, the big breakfast cereal companies (now including General Mills, who started in 1924 with Wheaties) increasingly started to target children. Sugar was added, and the once-healthy breakfasts looked starkly different from their fiber-rich ancestors (Kellogg's Sugar Smacks, started in 1953, had 56% sugar). Different mascots were introduced, first with the Rice Krispies elves and later pop icons like Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit.
Highlights in the history of American breakfast cereals
- ~1600's — North American colonists pour sugar and cream on popcorn, making the first puffed breakfast cereal.
- 1877 — Portrait of the Quaker man on the Quaker Oats package created. Updated three times: 1946, 1957, and 1972.
- 1885 — Quaker Oats first packages Quaker Oatmeal in square boxes after years of selling oatmeal in bulk.
- 1906 — Kellogg begins production of Kellogg's Corn Flakes at W.K. Kellogg's newly formed Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company.
- 1915 — Quaker Oats packages Quaker Oatmeal in now-familiar cylinders.
- 1916 — Kellogg introduces All-Bran, nicknamed "The Grim Reaper of Loin Chow."
- 1924 — General Mills introduces Wheaties, called Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes during its development.
- 1928 — Kellogg introduces Rice Krispies.
- 1941 — General Mills introduces Cheerioats, later to be called Cheerios.
- 1942 — Raisin Bran first available in stores.
- 1952 — Kellogg introduces Sugar Smacks.
- 1958 — Tony the Tiger wins contest over Katy the Kangaroo to become sole spokes-character for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
- 1961 — Quaker Oats introduces Life Cereal.
- 1963 — Quaker Oats introduces Cap'n Crunch. Kellogg introduces Fruit Loops.
- 1965 — Quaker Oats introduces Quisp.
- 1978 — Quaker Oats introduces Cinnamon Life Cereal.
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