People are only just realising popular cereal has a very naughty origin story
CORNFLAKES has long been a favourite of cereal lovers but the breakfast favourite may have an unexpectedly x-rated origin.
The rumoured back story was detailed in a series of viral social media posts about how the Kellogg’s favourite came to be.
In the post, a woman asked followers to Google “why were cornflakes invented”.
She promised those who did would “thank (her) later”.
According to a screenshot of the search, Corn Flakes was intended to be an “anti-masturbatory morning meal”.
Its inventor John Kellogg, a devout Seventh Day Adventist and anti-sex campaigner, believed a bland diet would suppress sexual urges.
Its real, initial objective was to counter indigestion at a time when Americans favoured meat, potatoes and cake for breakfast.
However, Mr Kellogg’s religion did recommend a diet of bland foods to minimise excitement, sexual arousal, and masturbation, which Corn Flakes’ taste falls under.
The cereal concoction was first made in 1894, around the time Mr Kellogg release his book Plain Facts for Old and Young: Embracing the Natural History and Hygiene of Organic Life.
In the text, he described what he saw as the negative effects of masturbation.
These included mood swings, bad posture, acne, baldness and stiff joints.
In response to the surprise original, one person told the woman who revealed the theory that you “learn something new every day”.
Another user said there is even more to the story than it seems.
“There’s an entire drunk history episode about this and it gets WAY better than this, trust me,” they wrote.
“Corn Flakes decreases sexual desire and performance? Is that what Kelloggs was going for?” added another.
Kelloggs has been contacted for comment.
Now, the style of breakfast cereal has been replicated by countless brands who often claim to taste better than the original.
But fans’ shock at Corn Flakes’ origin isn’t the first time a brand has had an unexpected back story.
Makeup lovers recently realised MAC is actually an acronym for the Canadian brand’s original name.
A similar realisation was made for Italian sports brand Ellesse which is a combination of two surprise words.