Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground maize. It was first manufactured in the United States in 1893 by wheat millers in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
The rice-based Cream of Rice also forms part of the product line, and is often a recommended early food for infants and toddlers and for people who cannot tolerate wheat or gluten.[1]
Cream of Wheat was owned by Nabisco from 1961 to 2000 when Nabisco was bought by Kraft Foods Inc. B&G Foods acquired the Cream of Wheat and Cream of Rice brands from Kraft in January 2007.
History
After the Panic of 1893, the Diamond Milling Company in Grand Forks was faced with low prices and reduced demand for flour. Diamond's Scottish-born chief miller, Tom Amidon, proposed that the company package a breakfast porridge that his wife would make from the portion of the wheat not used in making flour.