Food and gastronomy
The surprising masturbation-related answer probably explains the sudden interest in this Google search.
The year 2022 has been rich in news. Between the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis (to name but a few), the Belgians needed clarification on many questions. And like everyone, when we have a question, we turn to Google. At the beginning of the year, the most used search engine in the world revealed the terms and questions most searched for by Belgians.
In the category “Why?” », there are many questions related to the news such as « Why is Russia attacking Ukraine? (1st place), Why is electricity increasing? (4th place), or “Why a “Z” on Russian tanks? (10th place). But we also discover more unusual questions like “Why do we yawn? (8th place) or “Why were corn flakes invented?” (2nd place).
Never mind, we have decided to answer this existential question of the Belgians. So why were corn flakes invented?
A food anything but aphrodisiac
You have to go back to 1894 to find the answer. John Harvey Kellogg, medical nutritionist and strict Christian, is convinced that to avoid contracting diseases, you need a healthy diet and a healthy life. Director of a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, he prescribed bowel cleansing, hydrotherapy, exercise, and healthy nutrition to his patients. Vegetarian, he makes wheat flake a pillar of his method, and serves it every day to his patients. He also totally banned alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, and was a supporter of sexual abstinence.
But few know that @KelloggCompany has been a pioneer in the #meatfree movement. Its founders, John Harvey Kellogg (medical doctor and a nutritionist) & Will Keith Kellogg (businessman) pioneered the process of making breakfast cereal as an alternative to the usual meats and eggs. pic.twitter.com/fVQ0Ny2lsO
— salesBeat (@salesbeatco) May 26, 2022
The creation of cornflakes is actually originally an accident. One day, while cooking for their patients, John Kellogg and his brother Will leave some boiled wheat to cool. They forget it a little too long and when they return, they discover that the wheat has gone stale. Having a limited budget to take care of the sanitarium, they especially do not throw away the preparation and try to transform it. They then flatten the preparation using a rolling pin, and once grilled, they are surprised to discover these light and crispy “flakes”. They therefore apply this method to corn, which in English gives “corn flakes”.
The doctor is particularly pleased with this discovery, knowing that he advocates a bland and tasteless diet. According to him, sweet or spicy foods can exacerbate passions, while corn flakes are the opposite of an aphrodisiac. This is why some, by shortcut, say that corn flakes were created to fight against masturbation.
Read also > 3 mistakes to avoid for a balanced breakfast
From healthy food to sweet cereals
In the late 1890s, John Kellogg and his brother founded the Sanitas Food Company and began marketing cornflakes. But Will, being a fine businessman, wants to improve the recipe and add sugar. A modification that absolutely does not please John who advocates the opposite. The conflict breaks out between the two brothers, and Will Kellogg buys the rights to the recipe. In 1906, he created his own company, Kellogg’s, and began to market corn flakes by adding sugar, salt and malt. The product quickly became all the rage, becoming the favorite food of American breakfasts.