Humans have been dehusking, steaming, and flatting oats to make oatmeal for millennia. Here are some facts I learned about my favorite breakfast!
- In Quaker Instant Oatmeal, the "strawberries" and "peaches" used to be dehydrated apples, and the "blueberries" dehydrated figs. The company now uses the fruits it advertises.
- Speaking of Quaker, their 35% Less Sugar Oatmeal contains 35% less oatmeal per packet despite being the same price as the regular version. That's one way to reduce the sugar, I guess.
- Quaker Oats Company and MIT took part in a study in the 1940s and 1950s that involved giving radioactive oatmeal to boys with disabilities. They didn't obtain proper consent, and paid a $1.85-million settlement decades later.
- This makes cereal box toys look like nothing. In 1902, some Quaker Oatmeal customers won coupons redeemable for a small plot of land in Milford, Conneticut. They became known as "oatmeal plots."
- Nickelodeon's green slime is an edible mixture of vanilla pudding, oatmeal, applesauce, and green food coloring. You can make it at home!
Update: Quaker now uses the fruits it advertises.
