RALSTON PURINA COMPANY

American corporation, until 1986 the world's largest producer of pet foods and commercial feeds for livestock, poultry, and other animals. (The company sold its domestic feed business in 1986.) It has also produced soybean products and such foods as cereals, crackers, candy, mushrooms, and processed poultry. Its nonfood ventures include industrial parks. The company's chief trademark is the checkerboard symbol. Headquarters are on Checkerboard Square in St. Louis, Mo. The companyinitially called the Robinson-Danforth Commission Companywas founded in St. Louis in 1894 by William H. Danforth, George Robinson, and William Andrews and at first produced and sold horse and mule feeds. In 1898 Danforth, president of the company, launched a cracked-wheat cereal that became known as Ralston Whole Wheat Cereal (after Dr. Albert Wester Edgerly, known as Dr. Ralston, a well-known health promoter of the 1890s). In 1902 the company's name was changed to Ralston Purina Company. Over the years, products were steadily diversified and sold throughout the United States and, from 1957, overseas.