Breakfast cereal
From Wikinfo
A breakfast cereal is a food product designed especially to be marketed to consumers as a ready-made breakfast food. Though cereal foods such as porridge are a staple of daily meals in many countries around the world, in wealthier, consumer-conscious nations such as the United States, entire industries have been created dedicated to the sale of specialized products, such as breakfast cereals. Breakfast cereals are generally eaten cold and mixed with milk as opposed to hot cereals like oatmeal, grits, etc.
Breakfast cereals are marketed to all ages. For adults, companies such as Kellogg's, Quaker Oats, and General Mills promote their products for the health benefits gained from eating oat-based and grain-based cereals. Nevertheless, the vast majority of breakfast cereal sold is marketed to young children. Cereal manufacturers have been criticized for manufacturing breakfast cereals with a heavy sugar content aimed at children. Sugar-laden breakfast cereals have been extremely popular with children for decades, and many adults also buy them out of nostalgia (also because they enjoy the taste). Manufacturers often fortify breakfast cereals with various vitamins to allay concerns that their products are not very nutritious.
Some highlights in the history of American breakfast cereals:
- 1877
- Portrait of the Quaker man on the Quaker Oats package created. Updated three times: 1946, 1957, and 1972.
- 1885
- Quaker Oats first packages Quaker Oatmeal in square boxes after years of selling oatmeal in bulk.
- 1906
- Kellogg begins production of Kelloggs Corn Flakes at W.K. Kellogg?s newly formed Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company.
- 1915
- Quaker Oats packages Quaker Oatmeal in now-familiar cylinders.
- 1916
- Kelloggs introduces All-Bran.
- 1924
- General Mills introduces Wheaties, called Washburn?s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes during its development.
- 1928
- Kelloggs introduces Rice Krispies.
- 1941
- General Mills introduces Cheerioats, later to be called Cheerios.
- 1942
- Raisin Bran first available in stores.
- 1952
- Kelloggs introduces Sugar Smacks.
- 1958
- Tony the Tiger wins contest over Katy the Kangaroo to become sole spokes-character for Kellogg?s Frosted Flakes.
- 1961
- Quaker Oats introduces Life Cereal.
- 1963
- Quaker Oats introduces Cap'n Crunch. Kelloggs introduces Fruit Loops.
- 1965
- Quaker Oats introduces Quisp.
- 1978
- Quaker Oats introduces Cinnamon Life Cereal.
See also
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Breakfast_cereal" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_cereal, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
