Metrecal was an American brand of low-calorie, powdered diet foods (to be mixed with water as a beverage) "containing the essential nutrients of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals" introduced in the early 1960s by the Mead Johnson company, with the first variety going on the market on October 6, 1959, the same day as another Mead Johnson product, Enfamil.[1] Though the initial Metrecal products were criticized for their taste, which newer varieties of flavor tried to improve upon, it attained a niche in the popular culture of the time. Created and marketed initially by C. Joseph Genster of Mead Johnson & Company, it was eventually replaced in the market by competitors such as SlimFast and lost popularity.
History
Founding
Mead Johnson had a long history of creating nutritional supplements for infants (Enfamil) and invalids, and Metrecal was seen as a logical progression into weight loss for the general public. Genster was the group director for nutritional specialties at Mead Johnson, which launched the product in September 1959, though it was unclear who conceived the original concept.[2] Food innovator Sylvia Schur's company provided consulting work on the product's development.[3] The name for the product was generated by an IBM syllable-scrambling program, that when "meter" and "calories" were entered, referring to the measured caloric intake of the diet, the name "Metrecal" was created.
Popular phase
Originally the product came as a powder (containing powdered skim milk, soybean flour, sugar and corn oil and fortified with vitamins and minerals) which was to be mixed with water.
References
- "Mead Introduces 2 New Items", The Evansville (IN) Press, October 1, 1959, p. 8-A. Accessed October 30, 2023, cia Newspapers.com. "Two new Mead Johnson and Company products will go on the market Monday — one of them a 'painless' weight control product, the other a low protein duplication of mother's milk."^
- Martin, Douglas. "C. Joseph Genster, Marketer of Metrecal, Dies at 92", The New York Times, August 26, 2010. Accessed August 27, 2010.^