W.K. Kellogg (1860 – 1951)

W.K. Kellogg was born Will Keith Kellogg on April 7, 1860. As a young man, he moved to Battle Creek, MI to help his brother, John Harvey Kellogg, run his company, the Battle Creek Sanitarium. There they produced the first flaked cereal. J.H. Kellogg invited everyone to come see the new invention and the process to make it. C.W. Post was among these visitors. Post decided to take this information and develop his own company, Post Cereals. Upset by Post's success, W.K. Kellogg left the Sanitarium and created his own company, Sanitas Food Company, in 1897. Along with his brother, he began advertising a healthy breakfast food known as cornflakes. The brothers later began to disagree over the addition of sugar to the cereal. W.K. Kellogg then founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906 which later became the Kellogg Company. This company was one of the first to include nutrition labels on its packages and offer prizes for children to send in for.

In 1930, Kellogg became involved in the community and vowed "I will invest my money in people." He set up the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and during the Depression, he added 3 6 hour shifts at his plant. He also founded Kellogg College, Oxford. In 1925, Kellogg purchased a 377 acre ranch in Pomona, CA which grew to 750 over the next 7 years. In 1932, he donated the ranch to the University of California system. During WWII, the US War Department took it over. In 1949, it was returned to the W.K.Kellogg Foundation by the Department of Agriculture. The ranch was then given to the State of California and became part of the California State Polytechnic College. In 1966, it became known as California Polytechnic College Pomona. Some of the property Kellogg owned near Battle Creek, MI was also donated to a university, Michigan State College.

Corn flakes are a toasted dough formed by cooked corn (maize), sugar, vitamins, and minerals. The Kellogg brothers came about this process by accident in April 1894. They left some cooked wheat sitting out for a while and the dough became stale. Because their budget was small they decided to continue using the dough. After rolling the dough all they got were flakes. They decided to toast these flakes and serve them to their patients at the sanitarium. A patent was filed in 1895 for "Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same" and was granted in 1896.

Ingredients for Kellogg's Corn Flakes:

• Milled corn
• Sugar
• Malt flavoring
• High fructose corn syrup
• Salt
• Iron
• Niacinamide
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin A palmitate
• Folic Acid
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D
  

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Keith_Kellogg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_flakes
Pictures:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Cornflakes_in_bowl.jpg