What Cereal Gets Shot from a Gun?

Fact: The original name for Cheerios was "Cheerioats," and General Mills would shorten the name Cheerioats to Cheerios in 1945.

There is a cereal that is the favorite to fly off the shelves in the grocery stores. It is also the cereal that gets shot from a gun -- well, not actually a gun but a "puffing gun" according to the folks at General Mills. The "puffing gun" technology was originally used to create Kix Cereal in 1937.

Cheerios are made in the Buffalo, NY waterfront plant that went through a series of ten different sizes before settling on the current one. General Mills recommends that children be at least 9 -- 12 months of age before they are allowed to enjoy Cheerios -- which by the way come in many different flavors these days:

Chocolate, Cinnamon Burst, Frosted, Fruity, Multi Grain, Oat Cluster, Yogurt Burst, Banana Nut, Apple Cinnamon and Honey Nut (the second largest seller).

Cheerios were invented by Lester Borchardt in 1941. Borchardt, a Minnesota physicist, also has 11 other inventions and patents to his credit including fortifying milk with vitamin D. Borchardt was 99 years old when he left our midst and we are left to wonder if he ate his healthy Cheerios all of his days.

The first slogan for Cheerios was, "The Breakfast Food You've Always Wanted." Apparently true as one of every eight boxes sold in America are Cheerios and it is often the first cereal that children are introduced to.

Cheerios even has their own Facebook page and you can visit it here. No less than 512,000 fans follow Cheerios on Facebook.

For a list of recipes that you can use with your Cheerios, click here.

Happy 70th Birthday, Cheerios! We couldn't imagine life without you.

Sources:

http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article467467.ece

http://www.generalmills.com/Home/Media/Inside_General_Mills/Library/2011/cheerios_turns_70_5_2011.aspx

http://www.cheerios.com/our-story

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-06-26-Cheerios-70_n.htm