One of the most popular breakfast cereals was invented by accident.

Science & Industry

W ell before the name Kellogg became synonymous with milk-infused breakfast fare and animated tigers, it was associated with health. While serving as director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, physician John Harvey Kellogg earned widespread fame for his efforts to cure a range of illnesses. To treat digestive problems, he began experimenting with a new flaked cereal — and when one batch of dough was left out too long, everything changed.

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By the Numbers

Percentage of U.S. households that eat cereal every day

12%

Net sales recorded by the WK Kellogg Co in 2023

$2.8 billion

Did you know?

The Kellogg brothers sued each other over the brand name.

From the 1880s until 1906, Will Kellogg quietly managed the Battle Creek Sanitarium's operations under the critical eye of his domineering older brother. After the younger sibling finally achieved success with his Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flake Company, he was none too thrilled when his elder relation began selling his own cereals under the label Kellogg's Food Company of Battle Creek. Will subsequently filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement in August 1910, prompting a countersuit from his brother. Although they initially settled out of court in 1911, Will reignited the legal furor a few years later when he began marketing bran cereals in direct competition with those created by his brother. However, a Michigan judge determined the Kellogg trademark belonged to Will's company, a decision upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court in 1920, ensuring the family's cereal glory would thenceforth be the sole domain of the younger brother.