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Life

23rd Feb 2014

Food for Thought: A Short History of Corn Flakes

Una Kavanagh

We need food and drink to survive, to nourish us and to keep us in tip-top shape. But did you ever wonder about the history behind certain foods and drinks?

This week we’re bringing you the history behind corn flakes.

The origin of the corn flake dates back to the late 19th century when the Seventh-day Adventist Church began developing a new vegetarian food.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, an Adventist and superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanitarium, used the newly formed recipes as part of his strict regime for his patients, consisting of many foods.

The actual concept for corn flakes came completely by accident when Kellog and his brother Will left some cooked wheat to sit while they attended the sanitarium.

It’s said that when the pair returned they found that the wheat had gone stale but they continued producing it through the machines – this, instead of the sheets of dough that they hoped for, created flakes.

A patent for “Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same” was filed on May 31, 1895, and then issued on April 14, 1896. At the time the flaked cereal was called “granose” and became very popular among Kelloggs’ patients.

From there its popularity grew and the brothers added new combinations into the grains.

Previously: