Honey Nut Cheerios (Photo : Reuters)
General Mills has announced that it is recalling 1.8 million boxes of gluten-free original and Honey Nut flavored Cheerios breakfast cereal, as possible wheat contained in them could cause negative reactions to people with gluten allergies. The Minneapolis-based company stated that wheat flour could have been accidentally added to the gluten-free oat flour during certain days at its facility in Lodi, California.
The cereal giant reported that the recall included original Cheerios made over 4 days. It also included Honey Nut Cheerios manufactured over 13 days, according to USA Today.
General Mills' cereal division president Jim Murphy explained that the error was related to off-loading of gluten-free oat flour from trains to trucks. The incident was due to human error.
It shared information on its website and social media on how consumers can check the boxes that are being recalled. The recall does not include the gluten-free Apple Cinnamon, MultiGrain, or Frosted Cheerios flavors.
United States' breakfast cereal sales have been dropping recently. In response General Mills has been removing artificial colors and artificial flavors from its product life, and started selling gluten-free cereals.
General Mills is converting 5 Cheerios varieties to gluten-free versions, according to Chicago Sun-Times. That is due to customers' demands for what it considers as healthy food.
People with wheat allergies can become sick or have major allergic reactions when consuming the grain. Others suffer from a gluten intolerance.
General Mills introduced Cheerios in May 1941 as "CheeriOats," then changed the name in 1945. It added the Cinnamon Nut variety in 1976, and Honey Nut flavor in 1979.
This video explains what gluten-free foods are:
