Are Gluten-Free Cheerios Really Unsafe for Celiacs?

I was beyond excited to try Cheerios again after years of going without, but unfortunately I got pretty sick off the non-contaminated Cheerios.

I used get sick regularly from Cheerios. I have not become sick from them since they claimed they are gluten free. As a matter of fact, it is the only dry cereal I eat. Thank you General Mills.

I was thrilled when Cheerios came out gluten-free and I could eat my favorite cereal again. I have had no problems with the gluten-free Cheerios. As a matter of fact, this morning I had the Pumpkin Spice Cheerios.

Your article is flawed. After the recall of the contaminated boxes ~ the FDA did indeed test 30 some odd boxes of the gluten-free Cheerios and found that the levels of gluten was different in every box, including over the 20ppm limit. These were NOT part of the recall from the other incident, this is actually a second recall. There has been no report of why these are contaminated and what they are doing to fix it: Open Original Shared Link As well, Gluten Free Watch Dog has also had much correspondence with General Mills, done testing and reported that they are not safe: Open Original Shared Link So ~ in saying that this is because the CCA 'heard stories' is not remotely accurate. There is evidence that these products are not gluten free, there are many reports of people being sick. Your article is 100% inaccurate. Sensationalism ~ sad.

To solve this problem dealing with General Mills and their tainted catastrophic ordeal with "Simply 'Gluten-free' Cheerios", I would highly recommend GM to remove all Gluten-free Cheerios off the shelf, and furthermore, take them off the market! GM is committing a dis-service to a large segment of the population that is "gluten free" . I will never touch or eat another box of GM gluten free products ,ever again! This is unheard of and disgusting as if you are promoting health and safety of our country's citizens! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!!!!!!

The problem with all gluten free food is that it's OK until it's not. I've been sick occasionally on sorted oats (Bob's Red Mill, Pamela´s oat bars), but never on purity protocol oats. I feel the risk of a sorting error is greater than that of oats grown with strict controls. Purity protocol oats also adhere to a lower ppm standard. I guess "safe" depends on if the ppm and sorting error risk are within one's comfort zone.

I have tried eating the "Gluten Free" Cheerios a few times from different boxes and every time I reacted. I only tried a few times because I wasn't sure what made me sick. Now I know with absolute certainty. I do not at all believe in the process they use and will never again eat Cheerios after getting sick every time I tried them. Not all celiac are created equal some are more sensitive than others so they might not be bad enough for all celiacs to react to them. I am highly sensitive and react to the slightest cross contamination. So Thanks, but no Thanks General Mills!! You can keep your Cheerios!!!!

I agree that claims need to be backed up with solid evidence. I appreciate the efforts various companies are making to provide the celiac and gluten intolerant community with food options and think that unless we are very careful when we call them out for errors, we are going to scare away other manufacturers and restaurants who are genuinely trying to accommodate us.

Where was the recall? I don't generally respond to blogs but if you are new to this gluten-free stuff do to an allergy, please beware. I did get sick after eating a gluten-free honey nut cheerios and more than once as after I while I heard others say they were OK and I got sick again so it was definitely the Cheerios. I don't know how sensitive I am but I can eat candy bars that say may contain wheat (processed in plant with other wheat products) and I am generally OK; that is not the case with Cheerios.

I, like many other celiacs, am also allergic to "pure" oats (those that are completely uncontaminated by wheat or other gluten sources). I have similar symptoms to having been glutened (diarrhea, stomach cramps, etc.) after eating oats, though the symptoms last a shorter length of time. I warn other celiacs to be cautious of ingesting even gluten-free oats, until you can confirm that you aren't in the 25-30% who have this extra allergy. It may be that a faulty vsystem of vetting the oats is not the only cause of potential problems for celiacs.

WOW, is someone in bed with General Mills? Did someone become the official spokesman for General Mills? If they get an independent third party to make their product "Certified Gluten Free" and I'd eat it, until then I am staying away. Maybe you can pass this along to them, since it appears you have a close relationship with General Mills.

Not all with celiac are the same, that's why diagnosing it is so difficult. You can have 10 people with celiac eat the exact same meal and all ten have may have different reactions. But we do know is this, NO AMOUNT of gluten is safe for someone with celiac and damage can actually be occurring without you or I even knowing it. Everyone with celiac should be supportive of each other, that's what will make a successful support group and make for strong public advocacy.