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    Jefferson Adams
    Jefferson Adams

    By Jefferson Adams •

    General Mills Sued Again, This Time for Misleading Labels on Gluten-free Cheerios

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Celiac.com 02/02/2016 - General Mills seems to be having a hard time catching a break lately, especially when it comes to their new gluten-free options.

    Photo: CC--JamieAfter some minor good news that their new gluten-free versions of Cheerios breakfast cereal was driving a small increase in an otherwise falling cereal market, the company has found itself on the receiving end of several lawsuits.

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    In the latest lawsuit, a Kentucky woman is suing the cereal producer over what she claims are misleading labels on their gluten-free products, including gluten-free Cheerios.

    In her class-action lawsuit filed Dec. 18 in the Eastern District of California, Jacklyn Haddix, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, alleges that General Mills, General Mills Sales, General Mills Operations, and Does 1-50, engaged in "unjust enrichment, breach of express warranty, negligence and violations of Kentucky and California consumer protection laws."

    The suit states that after General Mills began to advertise and distribute its gluten-free Cheerios products throughout the U.S., in September, the Food and Drug Administration received consumer reports of adverse reactions from people who had eaten gluten free-labeled Cheerios.

    On Oct. 5, after FDA tests of 36 Cheerios samples that certain samples contained gluten levels well above the mandated limit for products labeled gluten-free.

    General Mills subsequently recalled 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios. Two days later, the company revealed finished product testing had not been performed on the recalled Cheerios, according to the suit.

    Haddix and others in the suit seek "compensatory, exemplary, punitive, and statutory damages, plus return of purchase prices, interests, reimbursement, disgorgement, and attorney fees and costs" exceeding $5 million.

    Stay tuned for more developments on this and other gluten-free product lawsuits.

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    Guest Kim

    I got sick from eating Gluten Free Cheerios. I don't think after what they did they should be allowed to continue to supposedly make Gluten Free Products! They obviously don't care about our health. Just their bottom line!

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    Guest Nola
    I got sick from eating Gluten Free Cheerios. I don't think after what they did they should be allowed to continue to supposedly make Gluten Free Products! They obviously don't care about our health. Just their bottom line!

    I absolutely agree with you. And this may sound bad, but at least you got sick. I did also. And that is horrible, I agree, but what about the celiacs that don't have that reaction. They could be eating this totally unaware that their villi are being damaged. That 'Oh well, people got a little sick' attitude needs to stop. It is not the feeling sick, the brain fog, the migraines, or even my seizures (although all horrible) ...GLUTEN can be doing permanent damage is the biggest issue.

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    Guest Nuke
    On 2/8/2016 at 1:42 AM, Guest amir said:

    I think it is not a good idea to sue the company for a little mistake . It is discouraging for the company and its staff to produce more gluten free products . Celiac people would suffer because of limited products available in the market, but the lady would enjoy winning $5 million and would buy new luxury item and travel free by catching a little mistake . Just it is my personal opinion. Thanks

    Are you kidding me? If people don't sue, what reasons do they have to change their behavior? Like if they actually cared, they could catch a ton of us into buying from them, just by fixing these issues, so obviously we're not that big of the market to them, so just refusing to buy from them won't work. Without any incentive, they're not gonna change. After all, who cares if a bunch of people get sick, as long as they can keep making money?

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    trents

    The key sentence in the article is, "Two days later, the company revealed finished product testing had not been performed on the recalled Cheerios, according to the suit."

    In other words, this "gluten free" Cheerio product or the raw oatmeal stock they used for it passed testing before it was processed and packaged but sometimes would not afterward. This reinforces and validates the celiac community's concern over cross contamination during processing of food products that are marketed as "gluten free" and not to be complacent about ones marketed as "naturally gluten free." Folks, it ain't necessarily gluten free unless it has been proven so by testing done after the final stage of processing and packaging and that includes things that start life as "naturally gluten free". This also highlights the wisdom of using dedicated processing facilities for food products marketed as gluten free.

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    Scott Adams

    There is a follow up article to this, but the issue was due to a box car of contaminated oats that was used. This was at the very beginning of their switch to "gluten-free" Cheerios. They did a press release admitting the error, and moved on long ago. This is not an ongoing issue, and was a one time incident.

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    trents

    Thanks for the update and clarification, Scott.

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    Scott Adams

    This article explains it better:

     

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  • About Me

    Jefferson Adams

    Jefferson Adams is Celiac.com's senior writer and Digital Content Director. He earned his B.A. and M.F.A. at Arizona State University. His articles, essays, poems, stories and book reviews have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and websites, including North American Project, Antioch Review, Caliban, Mississippi Review, Slate, and more. He is the author of more than 2,500 articles on celiac disease. His university coursework includes studies in science, scientific methodology, biology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, logic, and advanced research. He previously devised health and medical content for Colgate, Dove, Pfizer, Sharecare, Walgreens, and more. Jefferson has spoken about celiac disease to the media, including an appearance on the KQED radio show Forum, and is the editor of numerous books, including "Cereal Killers" by Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan, Ed.D.

    >VIEW ALL ARTICLES BY JEFFERSON ADAMS

     

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