# Corn flakes made from wheat? Not likely **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271 "2008-04-28T20:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/1 "2008-04-28T20:58:32Z")
Suddenly, I decide to look up corn flakes and how they’re made. I google the term, and I find several sites, Wikipedia included, that explain that the history of the corn flake is a serendipitous result of the inventors (the Kellogs) leaving some _wheat_ out too long. They dried it, ran it through rollers, etc. to reconstitute it, but somehow - voila! - corn flakes. Corn flakes!!! From wheat? Does anyone know the true story, or is this one just destined to be copied from site to site? Corn flakes don’t come from wheat. Otherwise, wouldn’t they be called…_Wheat_ flakes? Or do they? Dopers, any help? xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/2 "2008-04-28T21:01:47Z")
I don’t know how they were invented, but the first ingredient of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes is, in fact, milled corn: > [@](#): > > Ingredients > MILLED CORN, SUGAR, MALT FLAVORING, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, IRON,NIACINAMIDE, SODIUM ASCORBATE AND ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), PYRIDOXINEHYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMINHYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, VITAMINB12, AND VITAMIN D. TO MAINTAIN QUALITY, BHT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE PACKAGING. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/3 "2008-04-28T21:06:28Z")
I don’t know if there is a legacy, but in old English, “corn” just means any generic grain - wheat, barley, maize, etc. However, I believe that Cornflakes are made from “corn” as in maize. And in fact though the US Kellogg’s site says “corn” as the primary ingredient of the flakes, the British one says “maize”. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/4 "2008-04-28T21:06:59Z")
> [@](#): > > **Ingredients** > > Milled corn, sugar, malt flavoring, high fructose corn syrup, salt, iron, niacinamide, sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid (vitamin c), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), riboflavin (vitamin b2), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin b1), vitamin a palmitate, folic acid, vitamin b12, and vitamin d. To maintain quality, bht has been added to the packaging. > > **Allergen information** > > Corn used in this product contains traces of soybeans. Source: [http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=449](http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=449) > [@](#): > > The legacy of corn flakes goes back to the late 19th century, when a team of Seventh-day Adventists began to develop new food to meet the standards of their strict vegan diet. Members of the group experimented with a number of different grains, **including wheat, oats, rice, barley, and of course corn**. In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan and an Adventist, used these recipes as part of a strict vegetarian regimen for his patients, which also included no alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine. The diet he imposed consisted entirely of bland foods. A follower of Sylvester Graham, the inventor of graham crackers and graham bread and supporter of sexual abstinence, Kellogg believed that spicy or sweet foods would increase passions. In contrast, cornflakes would have an anaphrodisiac property and lower the sex drive. Source: [Corn flakes - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflakes) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/5 "2008-04-28T21:07:58Z")
Here is what the [official website](http://www2.kelloggs.com/General.aspx?ID=466) says: > [@Kellogg Company](#): > > In 1906, W.K. Kellogg entered the cereal business, as American eating habits began shifting from heavy, fat-laden breakfasts to lighter, more grain-based meals. W.K. discovered that a better flake was produced by using only the corn grit or “sweet heart of the corn.” To help consumers distinguish Kellogg’s Corn Flakes® cereal from the products of the 42 other cereal companies in Battle Creek, Michigan, W.K. put his signature on each package, saying that these Corn Flakes are the “The Original.” The company succeeded because it believed the entire populace, not just those on special diets, might be interested in wholesome cereal foods, and because it continually improved its product line and packaging techniques to meet the needs of an ever-changing and evolving consumer base. Nothing about stale wheat flakes. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/6 "2008-04-28T21:10:09Z")
You may want to look up the definition of [corn](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corn): > [@](#): > > 3 a: the seeds of a cereal grass and especially of the important cereal crop of a particular region (as wheat in Britain, oats in Scotland and Ireland, and Indian corn in the New World and Australia) b: the kernels of sweet corn served as a vegetable while still soft and milky The Master speaks: [How could the Romans use corn? It’s American!](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_102.html) ETA: Jeez, I take the time to look up what Unca Cece says, and look what happens! ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/7 "2008-04-28T21:19:58Z")
Ok, well, this, also from Wikipedia, indicates that the corn flakes came from wheat. “This idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit, while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they found instead were flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients. This event occurred on April 14, 1894, and a patent for “Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same” was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896, under the name Granose.” As to the definition of corn, I presume that Dr. Kellogg, being in America in the late 19th century, made a distinction between corn and wheat. I believe that this rendition from Wiki, as well as a handful of others I saw, are just repeating the same story. The Kellogg website isn’t much better, finessing the matter. I think they probably did discover wheat flakes that way, and then experimented with corn, leading to the product, Granose. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/8 "2008-04-28T21:25:14Z")
I don’t see the confusion. Here’s what the Wikipedia entry on corn flakes says: > [@](#): > > This idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit, while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they found instead were flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients. This event occurred on April 14, 1894, and a patent for “Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same” was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896, under the name Granose. [3][4][5] > > The flakes of grain, served with milk and marshmallows, were a very popular food among the patients. _ **The brothers then experimented with other flakes from other grains.** _ Emphasis added. And you can certainly still buy wheat flakes (aka Wheaties.) I’ve also seen oat flakes. And those bran flakes you see, they’re made from wheat bran. Corn just ended up being the most popular. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/9 "2008-04-28T21:37:34Z")
[QUOTE=CC] Ok, well, this, also from Wikipedia, indicates that the corn flakes came from wheat. “This idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit, while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they found instead were flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients. This event occurred on April 14, 1894, and a patent for “Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same” was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896, under the name Granose.” [/QUOTE] I don’t see anything in that paragraph that says that they called the flakes that they made from wheat “corn flakes” (note in particular the title of the patent that you mention). Accidentally making flakes from their stale wheat gave them the idea for making flaked cereals, in particular corn flakes. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/10 "2008-04-28T21:45:50Z")
Here’s a website on William Kellogg. First there was Wheat Flakes(Granose), and then came Corn Flakes. > **[Kellogg's](http://famousbrandnames.blogspot.com/2007/02/kelloggs.html)** > > And the man behind the brand is... William Kellogg William Keith Kellogg once estimated that 42 cereal companies launched in the breakfast c... ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/11 "2008-04-28T21:54:18Z")
The wheat flakes were Granose and not the product Corn Flakes. Corn Flakes were later and they are always made from corn. Maybe the writers on these pages should be less obfuscated, and plainly state Corn Flakes have always been made from corn. Kellogg stumbled upon wheat flakes which later inspired him to make Corn Flakes from corn. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn-flakes-made-from-wheat-not-likely/447271/12 "2008-04-28T22:45:54Z")
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I may have misread them, but I think they’re wrong the way they’re written. At best, misleading. In any event, I have my question answered, so the mods can blow this one up, if desired.