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Quaker
USINFO | 2013-08-08 17:11
In 1850,Ferdinand Schumacher founds German Mills American Cereal Company in Akron, OH. During the same period, John Stuart established the North Star Mills Company in Canada. In 1877, Quaker Oats registered as the first trademark for a breakfast cereal. The trademark was registered with the U.S. Patent Office as "a figure of a man in 'Quaker garb.'" Both former owners, Henry Seymour and William Heston, claimed to have selected the Quaker name as a symbol of good quality and honest value.
In 1890, The American Cereal Company runs a special all-Quaker Oats train from Cedar Rapids, IA to Portland, OR and introduces the first ever "trial-size samples." 1/2 oz. sample boxes of Quaker Oats are delivered to every mailbox in Portland, OR. In 1997, The first food-specific health claim for oatmeal is approved by the FDA. The new heart health claim appears on Quaker Oatmeal cereals which qualify. The claim reads: "Soluble fiber from oatmeal as part of a low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet, may reduce the risk of heart disease." This was also the first year of the Smart Heart Challenge.
