Are Your Cheerios Contaminated? Recall Notice

General Mills Recalls Cheerios Due To Gluten Contamination…

General Mills, the manufacturer of Cheerios, just announced that there was inadvertent gluten contamination of their Cheerios and Honey-Nut Cheerios brand cereals over the course of a couple of weeks at their Lodi, California production facility.  The issue occurred when their gluten-free oats were off-loaded from rail cars onto trucks that possibly contained wheat flour. Needless to say, if you or a member of your family suffers from celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, or gluten intolerance and you have Cheerios or Honey-Nut Cheerios in your pantry, you will want to check your boxes to make sure you don’t get sick. Read the excerpt from General Mills, below, to see which boxes are affected…

Please see below for details on code dates and further FAQs. Additionally, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact our dedicated consumer line at: 1-800-775-8370. You may also find a note from the President of Big G Cereal Division at General Mills here: http://www.blog.generalmills.com/

Why is General Mills issuing this Class I recall of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios?

General Mills is voluntarily recalling Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios cereal produced at its Lodi, California facility on certain dates because of a potential undeclared allergen in the product. The products contain wheat, though they are labeled gluten free – and could cause severe reactions or illness in people with wheat allergies, celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Only products produced at the company’s Lodi, California facility, and bearing the following “BETTER IF USED BY” dates are being withdrawn:

What is General Mills asking consumers to do?

Consumers allergic to wheat, or diagnosed as celiac or intolerant of gluten, or who are unsure of whether they are sensitive to or intolerant of gluten, should not consume cereals in packages bearing the affected code dates. Consumers should contact General Mills at 1-800-775-8370.

How did this happen?

During the dates in question, the company’s Lodi facility lost rail service, and the company’s gluten-free oat flour was off-loaded from rail cars and transferred to trucks. The company believes this isolated incident resulted in wheat flour being inadvertently introduced into the gluten free oat flour system at its Lodi facility, introducing an undeclared allergen – wheat – into products labeled as gluten free.

Is it safe for consumers who are celiac or gluten intolerant to eat Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios produced at Lodi, California, before and after the affected code dates?

Yes. We have confirmed via testing that the products produced at Lodi both before and after the affected code dates are FDA compliant as gluten free.

What about Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at other General Mills facilities? Are any of those cereals or facilities affected? No. The Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at our other facilities are and were FDA compliant and gluten free. Only packages of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at our Lodi facility and bearing the “BETTER IF USED BY” code dates are affected as shown in the table above.

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Photos courtesy: General Mills