Cereal, Cold

Ready-to-eat (or cold) cereal, an American invention, developed as a result of the health reform movement in the late 1800s. Sanatoriums, often with religious affiliations, sprang up to offer food regimens for those suffering with dyspepsia, the chronic digestion problems that afflicted many Americans because of their high-protein diets. The grain-based cereals that were invented to offer abdominal relief to the sufferers became one of the first modern convenience foods—easy to serve, sanitary, and long lasting. Breakfast cereals are eaten throughout the world, and a few of the companies that were built by the original cereal inventors have grown into several of the largest American food conglomerates.