The Battle Creek Sanitarium system: History, organization, methods.

"John Harvey Kellogg is best known for the invention of the famous breakfast cereal, Corn Flakes, in 1878. Originally, he called this cereal Granula, which he later changed to Granola in 1881. However, due to patent rights, he had to once again change the name to Corn Flakes.^[19]

"These Corn Flakes were invented as part of his health regimen to prevent masturbation. His belief was that bland foods, such as these, would decrease or prevent excitement and arousal.^[20] Kellogg was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.

"John Kellogg and his brother Will Keith Kellogg started the Sanitas Food Company to produce their whole grain cereals around 1897, a time when the standard breakfast for the wealthy was eggs and meat, while the poor ate porridge, farina, gruel, and other boiled grains.^[ John and Will later argued over the recipe for the cereals (Will wanted to add sugar to the flakes). So, in 1906, Will started his own company, the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which eventually became the Kellogg Company, triggering a decades-long feud. John then formed the Battle Creek Food Company to develop and market soy products.

"A patient of John's, C. W. Post, would eventually start his own dry cereal company, Post Cereals, selling a rival brand of corn flakes. Dr. Kellogg later would claim that Charles Post stole the formula for corn flakes from his safe in the Sanitarium office" (Wikipedia article on John Harvey Kellogg, accessed 03-2017).

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link. Digital facsimile of the expanded second edition (1913) from the Hathi Trust at this link.