Breakfast cereal in the context of Monster cereals

General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company originally gained fame for being a large flour miller. It is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

Today, the company markets many well-known North American brands, including Gold Medal flour, Annie's Homegrown, Lärabar, Cascadian Farm, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, Totino's, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, as well as breakfast cereals under the General Mills name, including Cheerios, Wheaties, Chex, Lucky Charms, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and the monster cereals.

Triticale (/trɪtɪˈkeɪliː/; × Triticosecale) is a hybrid of wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale) first bred in laboratories during the late 19th century in Scotland and Germany. Commercially available triticale is almost always a second-generation hybrid, i.e., a cross between two kinds of primary (first-cross) triticales. As a rule, triticale combines the yield potential and grain quality of wheat with the disease and environmental tolerance (including soil conditions) of rye. Only in 1970 did the first commercial variety become available. Depending on the cultivar, triticale can more or less resemble either of its parents. It is grown mostly for forage or fodder, although some triticale-based foods can be purchased at health food stores and can be found in some breakfast cereals.

When crossing wheat and rye, wheat is used as the female parent and rye as the male parent (pollen donor). The resulting hybrid is sterile and must be treated with colchicine to induce polyploidy and thus the ability to reproduce itself.

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, in particular sweet and savoury dishes such as biscuits, breakfast cereals, snack foods, bagels, teas, hot chocolate, and traditional foods. The aroma and flavour of cinnamon derive from its essential oil and principal component, cinnamaldehyde, as well as numerous other constituents, including eugenol.

Cinnamon is the name for several species of trees and the commercial spice products that some of them produce. All are members of the genus Cinnamomum in the family Lauraceae. Only a few Cinnamomum species are grown commercially for spice. Cinnamomum verum (alternatively C. zeylanicum), known as "Ceylon cinnamon" after its origins in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), is considered to be "true cinnamon", but most cinnamon in international commerce is derived from four other species, usually and more correctly referred to as "cassia": C. burmanni (Indonesian cinnamon or Padang cassia), C. cassia (Chinese cinnamon or Chinese cassia), C. loureiroi (Saigon cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia), and the less common C. citriodorum (Malabar cinnamon).

Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Australia and New Zealand, Cheerios is sold as an Uncle Tobys product.

Cheerios were invented in the United States in 1941 by General Mills. The product's original name was CheeriOats, but General Mills changed it to Cheerios in 1945 following a trademark complaint from competitor Quaker Oats Company over the use of the term "oats".

Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originally introduced as Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes in 1924, it is primarily a wheat and bran mixture baked into flakes.

Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally known as Shredded Ralston, first produced in 1936 and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, then later renamed Chex in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate spinoff Ralcorp in 1994 and was then sold to General Mills in 1997. Rival cereal company Kellogg's has the rights to the Chex brand in South Korea and Singapore.

The name "Chex" reflects the square checkerboard logo of Ralston Purina.

Lucky Charms is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills since 1964. The cereal consists of multi-colored marshmallows and pieces of shaped pulverized oat, each resembling one of several objects or symbols associated with good luck. The packaging and marketing features a leprechaun mascot, Lucky.

Trix is an American brand of breakfast cereal made by General Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the North American market and by Cereal Partners (using the Nestlé brand) elsewhere in the world. The cereal consists of fruit-flavored, sweetened, ground-corn pieces.

The Trix trademark is also used by Yoplait (a yogurt company previously mostly owned by General Mills) for a line of similarly flavored yogurt marketed toward children.

Cocoa Puffs is an American brand of chocolate-flavored puffed grain breakfast cereal, manufactured by General Mills. Introduced in 1956, the cereal consists of small hollow orbs of corn and rice flavored with cocoa. Cocoa Puffs have the same shape as Kix and Trix cereal.

Cocoa Puffs are sold in Canada, Latin America, and Europe under the Nesquik brand, via the Cereal Partners Worldwide agreement between Nestlé and General Mills.

B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds.

Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vitamin B complex. Individual B vitamins are referred to by B-number or by chemical name, such as B₁ for thiamine, B₂ for riboflavin, and B₃ for niacin, while some are more commonly recognized by name than by number, such as pantothenic acid (B₅), biotin (B₇), and folate (B₉). B vitamins are present in protein-rich foods, such as fish, poultry, meat, dairy products, and eggs; they are also found in leafy green vegetables, beans, and peas. Fortified foods, such as breakfast cereals, baked products, and infant formulas, may contain B vitamins.

Vitamin B₁₂, also known as cobalamin or extrinsic factor, is a water-soluble vitamin involved in metabolism. One of eight B vitamins, it serves as a vital cofactor in DNA synthesis and both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. It plays an essential role in the nervous system by supporting myelin synthesis and is critical for the maturation of red blood cells in the bone marrow. While animals require B₁₂, plants do not, relying instead on alternative enzymatic pathways.

Vitamin B₁₂ is the most chemically complex of all vitamins, and is synthesized exclusively by certain archaea and bacteria. Natural food sources include meat, shellfish, liver, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. It is also added to many breakfast cereals through food fortification and is available in dietary supplement and pharmaceutical forms. Supplements are commonly taken orally but may be administered via intramuscular injection to treat deficiencies.

Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). Originally invented as a breakfast food to counter indigestion, it has become a popular food item in the American diet and in the United Kingdom where over 6 million households consume them.

The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his brother John Kellogg who was the superintendent. The breakfast cereal proved popular among the patients and Kellogg subsequently started what became the Kellogg Company to produce corn flakes for the wider public. A patent for the process was granted in 1896, after a legal battle between the two brothers.

Junk food is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from macronutrients such as sugar and fat, and often also high in sodium, making it hyperpalatable, and low in dietary fiber, protein, or micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. It is also known as high in fat, salt and sugar food (HFSS food). The term junk food is a pejorative dating back to the 1950s.

Precise definitions vary by purpose and over time. Some high-protein foods, like meat prepared with saturated fat, may be considered junk food. Fast food and fast-food restaurants are often equated with junk food, although fast foods cannot be categorically described as junk food. Candy, soft drinks, and highly processed foods such as certain breakfast cereals, are generally included in the junk food category; much of it is ultra-processed food.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose syrup, and isoglucose, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzymes. To make HFCS, the corn syrup is further processed with the enzyme D-xylose isomerase to convert some of its glucose into fructose. HFCS was first marketed in the early 1970s by the Clinton Corn Processing Company, together with the Japanese Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, where the enzyme was discovered in 1965.

As a sweetener, HFCS is often compared to granulated sugar, but manufacturing advantages of HFCS over sugar include that it is cheaper. "HFCS 42" and "HFCS 55" refer to dry weight fructose compositions of 42% and 55% respectively, the rest being glucose. HFCS 42 is mainly used for processed foods and breakfast cereals, whereas HFCS 55 is used mostly for production of soft drinks.

Froot Loops is a sweetened, fruit-flavored breakfast cereal made by WK Kellogg Co for the United States, Canadian, and Caribbean markets and Kellanova for the rest of the world. The brand was solely owned by the original Kellogg Company before it spun off its North American cereal division as WK Kellogg Co in late 2023. The fruit-flavored cereal pieces are ring-shaped, with a variety of bright colors. Although appearing in different colors, every color has the same flavor.

Muesli (/ˈmjuːzli/ MEWZ-lee) is a cold Swiss dish that has become a common breakfast cereal prepared without cooking. Developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital, in Switzerland, it is also consumed for supper as Birchermüesli complet, 'Bircher's complete little mush', i.e., muesli with café complet (milk coffee accompanied by Butterbrot [bread, butter and jam]).

Traditionally, the primary ingredient is rolled oats which have not been processed further. The original preparation was to soak the oats in water overnight ("overnight oats") and eat the next morning with fresh apple, nuts, lemon juice, and sweetened condensed milk. Variation over time was natural: substituting other citrus juice or adding additional ingredients such as grains, seeds, and fresh and dried fruits. Yogurt, milk or other milk products, or milk substitutes are now common ingredients in both homemade and commercially packaged muesli recipes.