cereal

Prepared foodstuff of cereal grain. Cereals are used for both human and animal food. The first step in making cereal is milling, grinding the grain so that it can be easily processed. Modern automated systems employ steel cylinders, followed by air purification and numerous sievings to separate the endosperm from the outer coverings and the germ; corn is milled by wet processes. Cereal products include minimally processed whole, crushed, or rolled grains, flour, cornstarch, meal (coarsely ground and unsifted grain), and pasta. Breakfast cereals include raw cereals such as oatmeal and farina (which must be boiled), shredded cereals (usually whole wheat that is boiled, dried, and cut), flaked cereals (usually corn that is broken down into grits and cooked under pressure with flavoring syrup before being pressed and toasted), puffed cereals (grains heated in a pressure chamber and then released to cause expansion), and granular cereals (flour-based cereals made from dough that is cooked and ground into small bits). All cereals are high in starch.

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