Corn Flakes - History of Corn Flakes

Have you ever eaten corn flakes? Corn flakes are flakes of cereal made out of corn. Sometimes they come with sugar added to them. There are many brands of corn flakes sold at the grocery store. There is one, though, that is called Corn Flakes. This cereal is made by the Kellogg company.

Corn Flakes were created by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in 1894. At the time, Dr. Kellogg was the superintendent at Battle Creek Sanitarium. Superintendent means that he was in charge. A sanitarium is a hospital for people who have a sickness that cannot be cured. People who could not be cured went to live out the rest of their lives in the sanitarium.

Dr. Kellogg was interested in healthy eating. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a "health spa" that encouraged a vegetarian diet. This means that the patients could not eat meat. They were also not allowed to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes.

Dr. Kellogg invented several healthy foods, such as granola and peanut butter. Dr. Kellogg believed that tooth decay was caused by people not using their teeth to chew enough. But, people had to be able to chew something that wouldn't hurt their teeth. So, he experimented with toasting dry, crisp cereals that could be mixed with milk. This is how Corn Flakes were invented.

The Kellogg company still makes many types of cereals. Today, toasted "flakes" are used in many types of cereals-corn flakes, rice flakes, and wheat flakes. These dry cereals are a popular breakfast food. They are usually eaten in a bowl with milk poured over them. But, some people will use these flakes to make "treats" or desserts by adding sugar, peanut butter, honey, or marshmallows.