1960's

By the early 1960’s several liquid diet meal replacements appeared to help sip your way to slenderness. But the biggest of them all at the time was Metrecal, a product of pharmaceutical company Mead Johnson & Co. Metrecal launched their product in September 1959 with the help of Mead Johnson, who had for a long time been developing baby formula. In typical protein shake form their powder was supposed to be shaken with water, leaving room for the consumer to decide how much to use and how to taste. Metrecal started a trend in the fitness industry, and that trend was weight loss. Marketed towards women, some people say that women drank chalk in order to be the size of super models. catering to the popular culture of the time, Metrecal succeed in marketing a weight loss shake that captivated the minds of some Americans who drank these shakes on a daily basis.