subject: The Crazy History Of Breakfast Cereal [print this page] People all over the place, millions in numbers, eat cereals of all different sorts every morning for breakfast. There are all different types that are marketed for all kinds of target audiences. One of the reasons why it is most popular is that it is a quick food that has vitamins in it, and it requires no cooking or anything. It is mixed with milk and sometimes sugar to adjust the taste. There are now hundreds of different types of breakfast in bowls these days, and some are organic, some are enriched with vitamins, some are artificially flavored, some have nuts, marshmallows, and even dehydrated fruits these days!
About a century and a half ago, Americas breakfasts consisted of eggs and meats, mostly those that were pork based. There really was no fiber in the breakfast diets, and unfortunately because of the long term consumption of these types of foods, wide spread illness and disease of the stomach and gastric disorders became pretty widespread.
In 1863, a man named James Caleb Jackson was a vegetarian who lived in Battle Creek, Michigan. He invented the first cereal, which he called Granula. During his time, the only way to make cereals was a very slow, tedious process, and preparing everything took quite a lot of time. This was mostly due to the fact that bran needed to be soaked in water long enough so that it would become soft enough for people to eat.
In the year 1877, Jacksons Granula was improved upon by John Harvey Kellogg, who created crushed cornmeal, oats and wheat. He actually made this cereal for a patient of his who was suffering with severe problems from having terrible difficulty moving his bowels. As you can now see, the patient had severe constipation due to a lack of fiber! We of course still experience the same symptoms when we are lacking fiber.
Johns brother Will later further developed the cereal by creating corn flakes. This is the guy that owned the Kellogg cereal company, which as you know continues the legacy of much more than corn flakes. With the establishment of the company during his time, corn flakes were formally introduced to the public in 1906. During the 1930s, Kelloggs cereals main targeted audience was the younger generation the kids. This is why they added sugar as one of their main ingredients, because kids liked it. Of course the same is true today. Soon after that, mascots were introduced to further attract kids to the cereals, and the rest, as they say, is history.
