Shredded wheat

Shredded wheat is a breakfast cereal made from whole wheat. As of January 2010, it was available in three sizes: bite sized (¾×1 in), miniature (nearly half the size of the bite-sized pieces), and full size, which may be broken into small pieces before milk is added (many brands refer to these pieces as "biscuits" and show the biscuit count on the box). Both sizes are available in a frosted variety, which has one side coated with sugar and usually gelatin. Some manufacturers have produced "filled" versions of the bite-size cereal containing a raisin at the centre, or apricot, blueberry or cranberry filling.

In the United States, shredded wheat is most heavily advertised and marketed by Post Cereals, which acquired the product in 1993 through its parent company, Kraft Foods, buying it from its long-time producer Nabisco. Kellogg's sells eight varieties of miniature, or bite-sized, shredded wheat cereal. Natural and organic manufacturer Barbara's Bakery makes an all-natural version of shredded wheat. In the United Kingdom, the Shredded Wheat brand is owned by Cereal Partners, a Nestle/General Mills company, although there are many generic versions and variants by different names. It was first made in the US in 1893, while UK production began in 1926.

Henry Perky invented shredded wheat cereal in 1893. The wheat is first cooked in water until its moisture content reaches about 50%. It is then tempered, allowing moisture to diffuse evenly into the grain. The grain then passes through a set of rollers with grooves in one side, yielding a web of shredded wheat strands. Many webs are stacked together, and this moist stack of strands is crimped at regular intervals to produce individual pieces of cereal with the strands attached at each end. These then go into an oven, where they are baked until their moisture content is reduced to 5%. The Natural Food Company was based at Niagara Falls, NY in 1901. It became the Shredded Wheat Company in 1904. It was bought by Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) in December 1928. US production moved to Naperville in Illinois in 1954, where it is still made. In 1993, Nabisco sold the brand to Kraft General Foods, but it was still under the Nabisco name until 1999, whereupon it was given by the phrase "Nabisco brought to you by Post". Canadian production has been at Niagara Falls, Ontario, since 1904 due to nearby hydro-electric power. US production is also at Niagara Falls, Ontario. Until recently, US production took place in Niagara Falls, New York, but that factory was closed to consolidate the two factories.

The original company opened a factory in Welwyn Garden City (UK) in 1926 at which time Welgar was its registered trade mark, which became part of Nabisco in 1928.^[1] The tall concrete cereal silos that form part of the factory are a local landmark and are listed structures.The first 18 storage units were completed in 1926 with a further 27 constructed in 1938, in both instances they were built by Peter Lind & Company of London who continue in business today. In 1988, Nabisco sold the UK site to Rank Hovis McDougall (who made own-label cereals for supermarkets), whose breakfast cereals division briefly became The Shredded Wheat Company. In 1990, RHM sold the site to Cereal Partners. Now, all Shredded Wheat is made at Staverton near Bath, as the Welwyn Garden City site was shut down in 2008. Also, "Bitesize", "Fruitful" and "Honey Nut" Shredded Wheat are made in the UK.

Shredded Wheat has a particular place in UK popular culture due to a long-running TV advertising campaign. The advertising campaign in the 1970s featured a song with the lyrics:

"There are two men in my life,

To one I am a mother,

To the other I'm a wife,

And I give them both the best

With natural Shredded Wheat"

The Three Shredded Wheat advert suggested that the cereal was so nourishing that it was impossible to eat three. Even a black hole was shown as exploding when the third biscuit was sucked into it. Phrases such as I bet you can't eat three and He must have eaten three were in common use as humorous remarks in the 1970s and 1980s, with celebrities such as Brian Clough, Peter Shilton, Richard Kiel and Ian Botham all 'unable' to eat three.^{[2] [3]} A later UK poster advert for Carling Black Label showed a bowl with four Shredded Wheat and the caption "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label".

Bernard Manning, the UK comedian, made this into a joke: Why does Arthur Scargill eat three Shredded Wheat? Answer: He eats two, the other one he puts on his head; (Scargill was known for having a particularly bad comb over).

In the United States Supreme Court case Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co. (1938), National Biscuit Co. sued Kellogg, attempting to enjoin Kellogg from using shredded wheat as a trade name and from manufacturing the cereal in its pillow-shaped form. The Supreme Court ruled that shredded wheat was generic and not trademarkable; and that in any case, when the first patent for shredded wheat machinery expired in 1912, the right to apply the name "shredded wheat" to the product passed into the public domain along with that patent.[1]

The shape and inherent dryness of the standard, large version of the cereal pieces led to the satirical nickname "Baled Hay". Sugar and milk are typically added to the standard cereal to enhance its taste and texture. Shredded Wheat can be served the "Canadian Way" by pouring warm milk over full size pieces, and adding butter and salt, or by first softening them by pouring boiling water over them, draining it off, then adding milk to make a sort of porridge.

• Frosted Mini-Wheats, a brand of frosted shredded wheat
• Raisin Wheats, a brand of filled shredded wheat
• Weetabix – another wheat-based biscuit cereal.
• Triscuit

• Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co., 305 U.S 111 (1938) at Findlaw
• Shredded wheat history chronology
• Closure of Welwyn Garden City plant
• Picture of Welwyn Garden City factory, Feb 2007, at Geograph.org.uk
• Darling Associates project to redevelop Welwyn Garden City factory
• Digital Images related to Shredded Wheat Production in North America Niagara Falls Public Library (Ont.)
• food product design site
• 1905 Advertisement