No, Corn Flakes Were Not Invented to Stop Masturbation
The title question is apparently one of the most common Google searches of all time, becoming the most popular question searched in South Africa in 2019, becoming a joke and meme across social media. It has commonly been noted that corn flakes were created to stop masturbation since John Harvey Kellogg allegedly wanted a plain food that was a “healthy, ready-to-eat anti-masturbatory morning cereal.”
Headlines across the Internet claim that Kellogg, as a Seventh-day Adventist who believed in celibacy, was so against masturbation as the reason why he created corn flakes. He wanted to stop consumers from masturbating. It has become almost viral truth across the Internet that corn flakes were invented to stop masturbation.
While it’s a very entertaining and humorous premise, the problem is that it’s not true.
Who was John Harvey Kellogg?
Most people who eat Kellogg’s Corn Flakes today don’t know that John Harvey Kellogg was actually a very established and prestigious doctor.
