Ready-to-Eat Cereals

Ready-to-eat cereals are the more common breakfast cereal by far in the United States. Ironically, the industry that has come under fire for giving children little more than empty calories, a sort of early-morning junk food, began as a “pure” and “scientific” health food, an alternative to the destructive diet of turn-of-the-century America. Its story involves a uniquely American mix of eccentric health reformers, fringe religion, and commercial canniness.