General Mills Draws Fire for Gluten-free Manufacturing Choices

All I know is that I have celiac, and am quite sensitive to cross contamination. I ate some of these Cheerios this morning and loved them...no reaction...no problem. I was thrilled.

Gluten Free Watchdog's (a well-respecting testing organization) concerns are GM's testing protocol may allow some boxes that are over 20 ppm to slip through because others are well below 20 ppm and they are tested together. GFW admits that there may be very few boxes that are over 20 ppm, but even one is too many if it makes someone sick. You may have been lucky to purchase boxes that are indeed below 20 ppm, but that doesn't mean that someone else may purchase some that will make them ill. Open Original Shared Link

As far as Celiac.com knows, their gluten-free Cheerios have never tested above 20ppm, and are gluten-free. If anyone can point us to objective tests showing higher levels, please let us know.

This is from Gluten-Free Watchdog's website: "During my visit to General Mills in mid July, results from randomly pulled data sheets for yellow box Cheerios from the gluten-free validation period were shared (these Cheerios did not go into boxes labeled gluten-free). The vast majority of extractions from these data sheets were under 20 ppm (many were below the lower limit of quantification of 10 ppm); some extractions were above 20 ppm (one extraction from one of the lots was above 90 ppm)." Open Original Shared Link

Gluten Free Watchdog's (a well-respecting testing organization) concerns are GM's testing protocol may allow some boxes that are over 20 ppm to slip through because others are well below 20 ppm and they are tested together. GFW admits that there may be very few boxes that are over 20 ppm, but even one is too many if it makes someone sick. You may have been lucky to purchase boxes that are indeed below 20 ppm, but that doesn't mean that someone else may purchase some that will make them ill. Open Original Shared Link

They propose a theory that some could be contaminated--ok, please show us some. Again, General Mills spent millions developing the technology to stay below 20 ppm...it is not up to them to prove that every single box they make tests below this--they have put a gluten-free guarantee on every box. It is now up to someone to find boxes that are not gluten-free--it is up to Gluten-Free Watchdog to show us a box if that is their claim. Obviously no company tests every box of their products--why should General Mills have to?

This is from Gluten-Free Watchdog's website: "During my visit to General Mills in mid July, results from randomly pulled data sheets for yellow box Cheerios from the gluten-free validation period were shared (these Cheerios did not go into boxes labeled gluten-free). The vast majority of extractions from these data sheets were under 20 ppm (many were below the lower limit of quantification of 10 ppm); some extractions were above 20 ppm (one extraction from one of the lots was above 90 ppm)." Open Original Shared Link

These were NOT from the "gluten-free" labelled Cheerios so this statement is very misleading. Here are Gluten-Free Watchdog's own tests of gluten-free Cheerios, all are under 10 ppm: Open Original Shared Link

Let me tell you, I was SO EXCITED when they first came out that I went and bought yellow box Cheerios and Honey Nut. I started with the yellow box (my favorite), but started to notice some GI upset setting in several hours after eating the cereal. I gave the benefit of the doubt that "maybe it was something else" that made me feel sick, and stopped eating the cereal so that I wouldn't be sick before a weekend trip that included a long drive.

 

Monday I came back and ate a big bowl of Cheerios, and one week later I'm still feeling the effects. I don't think there's tons of gluten in there, but there's enough to disturb my GI tract for a long time without making it bleed (my usual "bad" reaction).

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I wish they would use certified oats, or test smaller batches or SOMETHING.

I too ran out and bought a box of honey nut cheerios, had a reaction to it but it was slight, gave it another try and had a worse reaction....so I stopped eating them, then the recall came and i thought maybe I had eaten one of those boxes, so just recently I tried again, this time a very, very bad reaction...I am still feeling the effects two days later....so sorry General Mills but I cannot eat your delicious cereals...makes me very sad, because cereal is one of my favorite things to eat, and we have so few choices.

I love all the General Mills gluten-free cereals and have a problem with none of them. Love them for working to improve our lifestyle! I did not have a bowl of cereal for over 20 years and am thrilled to be able to do so now.

I was so excited to see these available, but had facial edema and fatigue after a test.

Just purchased a box colored in purple of Multi Grain Cheerios. Was thrilled to see them. Have only eaten a few dry to taste. I hesitated if Whole Grain Oats meant purchased Gluten Free Oats but bought them anyway. To solve all this I would recommend General Mills purchase Gluten Free Oats. Meaning they are not grown near gluten grains and then kept separate in their facility to prevent cross contamination at that point. I think it is a good product and oats in themselves are gluten free.

I too was excited to have these and do appreciate General Mills' honesty about their process. Sadly, like some other reviewers I had a reaction to these Cheerios - I had many clearly reactive symptoms. The average person does not realize that any company can put a gluten free label on their product and it doesn't mean the product is gluten free. There may be less gluten but it is still there. If they aren't certified gluten free oats they are NOT gluten free. There should be repercussions for false claims. I was so excited and now just feel deceived.