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| Kellogg's logo 1907 |
Original name: "Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes" (1906)
Name: "Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes" (1907)
Category: Food
Subcategory: Cereal
Inventors: Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will Keith Kellogg
Invented: August 8, 1894 - Battle Creek Sanitarium, Michigan, USA
Producer: Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company (founded by Will Keith Kellogg on February 19, 1906)
Production start: 1906 - Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
First price: In 1906, a large package of Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes cost 10 cents
Features: Corn flakes are a packaged cereal product formed from small toasted flakes of corn, and are usually served cold with milk and sugar. The cereal was created by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and patented in 1896. In the patent, processing the product was described as follows.
«First. Soak the grain for some hours - say eight to twelve - in water at a temperature which is either between 40° and 60° Fahrenheit or 110° and 140° Fahrenheit, thus securing a preliminary digestion by aid of cerealin, a starch-digesting organic ferment contained in the hull of the grain or just beneath it. The temperature must be either so low or so high as to prevent actual fermentation while promoting the activity of the ferment. This digestion adds to the sweetness and flavor of the product.
Second. Cook the grain thoroughly. For this purpose it should be boiled in water for about an hour, and if steamed a longer time will be required. My process is distinctive in this step - that is to say, that the cooking is carried to the stage when all the starch is hydrated. If not thus thoroughly cooked, the product is unfit for digestion and practically worthless for immediate consumption.
Third. After steaming the grain is cooled and partially dried, then passed through cold rollers, from which it is removed by means of carefully-adjusted scrapers. The purpose of this process of rolling is to flatten the grain into extremely thin flakes in the shape of translucent films, whereby the bran covering (or the cellulose portions thereof) is disintegrated or broken into small particles, and the constituents of the grain are made readily accessible to the cooking process to which it is to be subsequently subjected and to the action of the digestive fluids when eaten.
Fourth. After rolling the compressed grain or flakes having been received upon suitable trays is subjected to a steaming process, whereby it is thoroughly cooked and is then baked or roasted in an oven until dry and crisp.
The finished product thus consists of extremely thin flakes, in which the bran (or the cellulose portions thereof) is disintegrated and which have been thoroughly cooked and prepared for the digestive processes by digestion, thorough cooking, steaming, and roasting. In this respect it differs from any similar alimentary article which has been heretofore produced».
«First. Soak the grain for some hours - say eight to twelve - in water at a temperature which is either between 40° and 60° Fahrenheit or 110° and 140° Fahrenheit, thus securing a preliminary digestion by aid of cerealin, a starch-digesting organic ferment contained in the hull of the grain or just beneath it. The temperature must be either so low or so high as to prevent actual fermentation while promoting the activity of the ferment. This digestion adds to the sweetness and flavor of the product.
Second. Cook the grain thoroughly. For this purpose it should be boiled in water for about an hour, and if steamed a longer time will be required. My process is distinctive in this step - that is to say, that the cooking is carried to the stage when all the starch is hydrated. If not thus thoroughly cooked, the product is unfit for digestion and practically worthless for immediate consumption.
Third. After steaming the grain is cooled and partially dried, then passed through cold rollers, from which it is removed by means of carefully-adjusted scrapers. The purpose of this process of rolling is to flatten the grain into extremely thin flakes in the shape of translucent films, whereby the bran covering (or the cellulose portions thereof) is disintegrated or broken into small particles, and the constituents of the grain are made readily accessible to the cooking process to which it is to be subsequently subjected and to the action of the digestive fluids when eaten.
Fourth. After rolling the compressed grain or flakes having been received upon suitable trays is subjected to a steaming process, whereby it is thoroughly cooked and is then baked or roasted in an oven until dry and crisp.
The finished product thus consists of extremely thin flakes, in which the bran (or the cellulose portions thereof) is disintegrated and which have been thoroughly cooked and prepared for the digestive processes by digestion, thorough cooking, steaming, and roasting. In this respect it differs from any similar alimentary article which has been heretofore produced».
Interesting facts: In the late 19th century, a team of Seventh-day Adventists began to develop new food to adhere to the vegetarian diet recommended by the church. Members of the group experimented with a number of different grains, including wheat, oats, rice, barley, and corn. In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan and an Adventist, used these recipes as part of a strict vegetarian regimen for his patients. On August 8, 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his younger brother, Will Keith Kellogg, decided to process some cooked wheat 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. A patent for the product was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896. 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, Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, founded on February 19, he added sugar to the flakes to make them more palatable to a mass audience, but this caused a rift between his brother and him. To increase sales, in 1909, he added a special offer, the Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Booklet (patented on January 15, 1907), which was originally made available to anyone who bought two boxes of the cereal, and then changed to a premium mail-in offer for the cost of a dime. The book was distributed in different editions over a period of 23 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.
In 2012, Kellogg's became the world's second-largest snack food company by acquiring the Pringles potato crisps brand from Procter & Gamble.
In 2012, Kellogg's became the world's second-largest snack food company by acquiring the Pringles potato crisps brand from Procter & Gamble.
Slogan (1906): «Wins It's Favor Through It's Flavor». «The Flavor that Grows in Favor». «The Way to Your appetite». «A Breakfast Treat That Makes You Eat». «Toasted Corn Flakes Make Him Grow». «Lost Appetites Found Toasted Corn Flakes». «Light as Driven Snow». «The Irresistible Food».
Property: Kellogg Company
Official website: http://kelloggs.com
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| Battle Creek Sanitarium, Health Foods advertisement (1897) |
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| Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisements. Left: The Evening World newspaper (New York, July 28, 1903). Right: The Minneapolis journal (Minneapolis, May 11, 1905). |
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| Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes, first package (1906) |
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| Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisement. Rock Island Argus newspaper (Rock Island, Ill., Sept. 1, 1906). |
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| Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisements. Left: Rock Island Argus newspaper (Rock Island, Ill., Sept. 6, 1906). Right: New-York Tribune (Sept. 6, 1906). |
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| Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisements. Rock Island Argus newspaper (Rock Island, Ill., 1906, from top: Sept. 11-15-29, Oct. 4-6). |
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| Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisements. The Minneapolis journal (1906, anticlockwise from top: Oct. 11-16-23). |
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| Sanitas Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisement with Will Keith Kellog's portrait and signature. Rock Island Argus newspaper (Rock Island, Ill., May 2, 1907). |
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| Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes, first package with "Kellogg's" instead of "Sanitas" (1907) |
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| Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisement. The sun (New York, June 26, 1907). |
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| Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes, advertisement and new logo with the big "K" which became the distinctive brand (1907) |
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| Kellogg's, Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Booklet: advertisement and book (1909). Patented on January 15, 1907, it was originally made available to anyone who bought two boxes of the cereal, and then changed to a premium mail-in offer for the cost of a dime. The interior pages are cut into six flaps so that the reader, by turning the flaps, can change the composition of the pictures. Each half page contains three pictures of costumed animals at various activities. The book was distributed in different editions over a period of 23 years (last edition was published in 1932). |
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| The Kellogg brothers. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Tyrone, Feb. 26, 1852 - Battle Creek, Dec. 14, 1943), medical doctor and inventor of the corn flakes, and Will Keith Kellogg (Battle Creek, Apr. 7, 1860 - Oct. 6, 1951), industrialist and founder of the Kellogg Company. |
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| Kellogg's celebrate 100th Anniversary (1906-2006) |
