Corn flakes

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Cornflakes in a bowl

Corn flakes are a popular breakfast cereal originally manufactured by Kellogg's through the treatment of corn.^[1]

1 History
2 Marketing
3 Cereals derived from cornflakes
4 Variations
5 Ingredients
6 See also
7 References

[edit] History

The 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 theory was carried out in the U.S. Army, which not only applied the theory orally, but also processed the cereal as a suppository.

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 April 14, 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, served with milk and marshmallows, 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]

[edit] Marketing

As part of an ambitious marketing campaign, various celebrities and cartoon characters have promoted the virtues of Corn Flakes since 1906. However, 1957 was the year that the ubiquitous green rooster "Cornelius Rooster" was created by Rena Ames Harding who was part of the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency and has been pictured on the front of Kellogg's Corn Flakes boxes ever since. Though originally trademarked to Kellogg, the term corn flakes eventually entered the vernacular as a generic term for any cereal of this type. ^[7]

[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. In the UK, the main brand rival is Sunblest Cornflakes. 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] Variations

Frosted Flakes (or Frosties in the UK, Commonwealth of Nations and EU countries) were introduced by Kelloggs in 1952 with Tony the Tiger as a mascot. These are essentially corn flakes with a sugar coating. ^[8]

In 1983, Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes were introduced, the base flakes being the same, but coated with honey and peanut pieces.

In the 2000's some variations on "plain" Corn flakes were introduced, such as Corn Flakes with chocolate, berries, Honey Oat Corn Flakes and Wholewheat Corn Flakes.