John Harvey Kellogg gained a reputation as both a nutritionist and a sexual adviser. He thought sex the ultimate abomination and remained chaste even in marriage. Masturbation was the worst sin of all, "the vilest, the basest, and the most degrading act that a human being can commit." In his view, it led not only to the usual stuff like tuberculosis, heart disease, epilepsy, dimness of vision, insanity, idiocy, and death, but also to bashfulness in some people, unnatural boldness in others, a fondness for spicy foods, round shoulders, and "acne, or pimples on the face." Kellogg introduced a number of foods designed to promote health and decrease interest in sex, one of which he called Corn Flakes. The rest, as they say, is history.

Bernie Zilbergeld, "The New Male Sexuality", Bantam Books

Will sometimes joined his brother in food experiments. This was the case during 1894 when the two brothers fixed a mass of wheat dough, boiled it for different lengths of time, and put it through rollers to press it into large sheets.

One night during these casual experiments, Will left the dough out overnight before he rolled it. When he later returned to the kitchen, he ran the dough through the rollers as before - but instead of forming a flat sheet, the dough broke up into flakes. Will was puzzled. The moisture had spread evenly to each individual wheat berry, and the dough had broken into flakes instead of binding together. Will could have thrown the flakes out and mixed up another batch of dough. Instead, he took them to his brother and suggested serving them for breakfast. J.H. wanted to crush them into bits, but Will served the flakes whole.

The results seem to have surprised even Will. The folks crunched happily during breakfast and asked for more. J.H. decided to patent the new process for flaked cereal.