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Corn
flakes were invented in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1894 by brothers
Will and Dr. John Kellogg. They baked some boiled wheat on a baking
tin, the doctor was called away on an emergency, and they rolled out
the stuff the next day. The result was flakes. John was interested
in the sanitarium, which he owned, while Will was interested in this
great new product.
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Will sweetened up the flakes with malt and bought the
commercial rights from his brother. Will Kellogg started
the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906.
In 1924, the first supplies of the breakfast cereal were
exported to the UK and proved so successful that a factory
was built to manufacture the Corn Flakes at Trafford Park,
Manchester in 1938. |
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Flakes are made from sweetcorn (shown left in pic)
which is ripened by more than 140 days of sunshine in
Argentina, South America before being shipped to the factory
for milling. The milling process removes the corn kernels
from the cobs and turns them into flaking sized 'grits'.
Malted barley (shown right in pic) is added to enhance
the flavour of the Corn Flakes. |
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corn grits are cooked in steam pressure cookers, with Kellogg's
unique malt flavour, at temperatures exceeding 100C. This
cooking process lasts for an hour and softens the hard grits.
The hot grits are transported from the cookers to large
driers via the complicated network of pipes that runs through
the factory. The grits spend several hours in the hot-air
driers in order to reduce their moisture content. |
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The
corn grits are milled using two large rollers, which squeeze
the grits flat. One of the rollers rotates slightly faster
than the other and exerts 40 tonnes of pressure on the grits.
This elongates the flakes. The flakes are then tumble toasted
for 30 seconds in huge cylindrical ovens. The air in the
ovens is heated by 600C gas flames and the flakes are tossed
around in a rotating drum. The drum is angled so that the
flakes whirl around and pass through it quite quickly, and
stops them spending too long in the fierce heat. |
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flakes are then sprayed with vitamins and minerals to make
them as nutritious as possible. We now have Corn Flakes.
The production line divides at this stage. The Corn Flakes
might be packed, or they could be diverted and used to make
Frosties or Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes. Frosties are created
by spraying the flakes with a special syrup in a rotating
drum. The Corn flakes are then bagged up with the help of
a bagging machine, which uses huge rolls of polythene to
create the cereal box liners. This machine can create, fill,
seal and cut off 30 bags a minute. |
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of flat cardboard boxes are drawn into the packing machine
via a conveyor belt. As each box enters the machine, air
suction is used to pop it up and assemble it. A full Corn
Flakes bag is inserted into each box, and hot adhesive is
applied to the flaps at each end. Automatic arms close the
box and hold the flaps while the glue dries, sealing the
box shut in a couple of seconds. |
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boxes are then banded together, so that they can be easily
stored and transported. In the warehouse the cases are
moved around (as if by magic) by using robotic trucks
that follow hidden tracks in the floor.
The
Kellogg's factory operates 24 hours a day. Corn Flakes
begin their journey to our breakfast tables, via huge
trucks that travel all over the country. |
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