In the beginning, there was cereal. The cereal was rather plain, not very tasty. So, the ingenious cereal manufacturer added sugar. He came up with great ways of adding sugar to the cereal, so that all the kids loved the way the cereal tasted. This was a wonderful invention, and it worked for some twenty odd years. Then one day, someone thought to ask what all that sugar might do to the children consuming the cereal.
The cereal wagon train had to circle the wagons, and come up with a better plan. Thus was born the “vitamin fortified” label you see on the box of cereal now. Vitamins and minerals essential to the development of our healthy children were added to the cereal mix, and all the parents were happy.
As a fairy tale, the cereal industry is a little lacking in appeal, as a breakfast food; however, they’ve remained an expert. When cereal first came into being, almost 200 years ago, it did not have very much appeal. It tasted awful, and didn’t look much better. The purpose of the invention was for convenience and health. And those were the only purposes it served; taste and presentation were not figured into the equation.