Cornflakes - the ultimate remedy for sex

For some products there is no substitute. This is not surreptitious advertising - anyone who has ever eaten cornflakes, for example, knows that Kellogg's are unrivaled in terms of taste and crispiness. This is not diminished by the fact that some nutrition apostles claim that their basic ingredient, corn, is fattening food, because after eating it you quickly feel hungry again.

Even if that were true, it is certain that the inventor of this breakfast cereal had exactly the opposite in mind when he first served it to his patients on March 7, 1897 in a sanatorium in Battle Creek (Michigan): Doctor John Harvey Kellogg ( 1852–1943) as an Adventist was not only interested in using the flakes to quench the appetite for as long as possible, which comes from the stomach, but also that which arises one floor down. Kellogg was a staunch opponent of any sexuality, which he blamed for many ailments; according to his own statement, he lived celibate throughout his existence.

His sanatorium was all about vegetarianism, exercise, and enemas, which Kellogg began using every day. Like many of his co-religionists, he rejected conventional medicine – he assumed self-poisoning of the body to be the cause of every illness that occurred in the stomach and intestines.

According to him, meat consumption, alcohol and coffee, smoking and above all the damned sex led to a weakening of the body. Kellogg's Institute would have been absolutely the wrong place for hedonists, but greats like Henry Ford and actress Sarah Bernhardt found their way there.

Despite these rigid views, John Harvey Kellogg, together with his brother Will Keith, who was on the board of directors, wanted to create something edible that promised a change from bland bread. So, in 1894, the two of them came up with the idea of ​​rotating wheat using rollers. They dried the resulting flakes with heat until they were crisp. The brothers presented the result to the patients, seasoned with a little salt. They were only too happy to eat up the new item on the menu.

In 1906, Will Keith Kellogg started a company to distribute the flakes across the country. In return, he added sugar to them, which led to a break with his brother. Harvey was no longer able to benefit from Will's marketing genius: soon the market wanted more of the new food than the company could supply.

A reason for Will to point out the delivery bottlenecks in newspaper advertisements, the desired effect set in quickly: demand rose even more rapidly. From then on, the cornflakes went around the world, later the company switched from wheat to corn. Today, the flakes and many other products from the company are available in 180 countries around the world. Will Keith Kellogg died a rich man in 1951 at the age of 91.

His brother Harvey, believed to be the inventor, had a less fortunate fate. He had to close his sanatorium in 1938 after fewer and fewer guests came during the Great Depression. He was 3 million dollars in debt and died five years later. He never betrayed his principles. The question must remain open as to whether he became their victim.

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This article was first published in March 2021.