From health food to a breakfast table hit
Once a cure for tummy troubles, cereal is now a firm favourite.
Every morning, 14 million people in the UK munch through a bowl of cereal before work or school. That’s nearly half a million tonnes of cereal every year. This year, Kellogg’s, the company that makes Corn Flakes, Coco Pops and Rice Krispies, is celebrating 100 years of being in the UK. Weetabix is the UK’s most popular cereal, with Kellogg’s Corn Flakes coming in second – but what did we eat for brekkie before cereal?
How our ancestors started their day
The Romans didn’t agree with morning munchies at all. They thought eating more than one meal a day was not only bad for the stomach but greedy too. In the Middle Ages, British eating habits were shaped by Christian rules, and eating meat was only allowed on certain days. People still mark some of those feast days, like having pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (see page 25). In those days, “break fast” (or eating for the first time after a night’s sleep) for most people across the country was bread and weak beer, which they had around midday. In Scotland, damp weather and lack of sunshine made it hard to grow most crops, but oats thrived – and people have been using them to make porridge for thousands of years.
By the mid 19th century, rich people were tucking into huge breakfasts of fish, eggs, kidneys, sausages, bacon, coffee, toast and marmalade.
The inventor of “cold cereal”
The inventor of cereal with milk was an American called James Caleb Jackson. He thought people ate too much meat and their diet was and making them burp. He himself only ate once a day and avoided vegetables.
In 1863, Jackson created something he named “Granula”, which was so tough it could break teeth unless it was soaked in milk first. His work inspired Dr John Kellogg, who worked at a sanitarium (where people went to improve their health). Doctors examined the patients and then prescribed Dr Kellogg’s treatments. Some were very strange, such as chewing each bite of food 40 times; lying in a bath for days; or sitting on a chair that jiggled the patient until they needed a poo. His totally brilliant idea, though, was Corn Flakes. Patients loved them as a health food, and his brother William started selling them across the world.
Breakfast Britain
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and All Bran came to the UK in 1922, and Weetabix was set up 10 years later. Cereal was a huge hit because it was a lot easier to prepare than cooking bacon and eggs. Originally sold as a health food, cereals have come a long way. Makers soon found that bright colours, cartoons on the boxes and sweeter recipes really appealed to children. Adding plastic toys such as cartoon characters, ice lolly moulds and even water pistols made them even more popular.
Changing tastes
Doctors and dentists began to worry that sugary foods could harm people’s health, and breakfast cereals were criticised for their sugar content. Many companies have cut the sugar in their cereals; but customers have changed their eating habits, too. Now people like a pot of ready-to-make porridge or a breakfast bar. Cereal was invented as a way to improve digestion but now it’s a tasty, easy bite to grab, shove in your bag and go.