Mellin's Food


Mellin's Food Company was a maker of Mellin's Food for Infants and Invalids in Boston, Massachusetts.

History

The company started when the English food chemist Gustav Mellin developed an infant formula in 1866. Mellin's formula was a simplified version of one which had been recently invented by the German chemist Justus von Liebig. It wasn't a total nutritional supplement, the powder was diluted with cow's milk and water and was called a "milk modifier". It was a "soluble, dry extract of wheat, malted barley and bicarbonate of potassium." The formula was advertised with the slogan: "Mellin's Food for Infants and Invalids: The only perfect substitute for Mother's Milk".
In 1902, the Mellin Food Company sponsored the construction of the United Kingdom's first airship by Stanley Spencer. The completed airship carried an advertisement for Mellin's Food on its envelope. On 22 September 1902, Spencer flew the "Mellin's Airship" across London from Crystal Palace to Harrow.