Not many people are talking about Cheerios anymore and whether they are really celiac safe. Which is a shame. Cause it’s really important to understand the history behind the launch of the gluten-free Cheerios and how f***ed up it was.
So I thought I’d do a quick recap for you.
- In March of 2015, I was invited to the General Mills corporate offices to discuss the new, upcoming Gluten-Free Cheerios. Hated the trip. Appreciated their passion. Came away so-so on the validity of their methods (using contaminated oats and mechanically sorting them to remove the wheat and the barley). You can read about it here.
- Fast-forward to September of 2015 and many celiacs have complained about getting sick on the Gluten-Free Cheerios since they’ve been out. I questioned why some celiac bloggers were celebrating Cheerios when so many were getting sick. Take a gander here.
- Let’s jump now to October of 2015 (yeah I know…time flies when you’re getting glutened). I had a back and forth with the management team at Cheerios regarding why my fellow celiacs were getting sick. They insisted, and I quote, “Cheerios are safe – and they are gluten free. But celiac disease is a complex condition, and dietary changes for people with celiac disease often require the assistance of a trained physician. Blah, blah, blah.” Got that? We were NOT getting sick from the Cheerios. Couldn’t be.
- And what happened a few weeks later? Cheerios had to recall 1.8 million boxes of Gluten-Free Cheerios because…wait for it…they contained gluten due to an error in the production process. And guess when the error occurred? In July of 2015, when people were claiming they were getting ill. And why did they wait so long before announcing the recall? Because testing wasn’t done at that production facility at that time. No…really. You can read this staggering info here.
- And lastly, we’ll move right along to August of 2016 (yes, we’ve all just aged a year) when the Canadian Celiac Association formally announced that they “recommend that people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity DO NOT consume the gluten-free labeled Cheerios products at this time because of concerns about the potential levels of gluten in boxes of these cereals.” Peruse the juicy details here.
And of course, the million dollar question is why did the Celiac Disease Foundation put their logo on every single box? You know and I know what the an$wer i$. Becau$e it’$ alway$ the an$wer. Here are the top sponsors of the CDF:
Yep…they are all General Mills companies. Now look, the CDF is non-profit and I know they need sponsorship. But I figured there must be something else there. It can’t just be about the money. So I reached out to them. Here’s the convo:
GD: Hi folks. This is Gluten Dude. I am a celiac advocate and run a popular blog about living with celiac disease over at glutendude.com. I am respectfully requesting you remove your logo from all boxes of Cheerios since they have NOT proven to be safe for the celiac community. I understand GM is one of your biggest sponsors, but it really should be community first. Please let me know your thoughts. Many thanks.
CDF: Thank you for your email. Cheerios has warranted that their products meet the FDA standards for gluten-free labeling. Since the voluntary recall of October of 2015, CDF has received no information from the FDA that Cheerios products pose a risk to people with celiac disease who can tolerate oats. If you have information that shows otherwise, we request that you forward this information to the FDA so action may be taken. The support of General Mills helps to underwrite the costs of celiac.org, a website used by more than 7 million people worldwide each year for diagnosis, treatment and support. Until such time that General Mills no longer wishes to support the celiac community, their gluten-free products will continue to bear the Celiac Disease Foundation logo.
A few point of interest here:
- I just love how they note that the recall was “voluntary”. Like it was some kind of humanitarian effort on GM’s part. Please.
- The FDA has indeed received complaints from the celiac community about the Gluten-Free Cheerios.
- Instead of “Until such time that General Mills no longer wishes to support the celiac community, their gluten-free products will continue to bear the Celiac Disease Foundation logo.”…shouldn’t it be…“Until such time that General Mills can prove 100% that their gluten-free products are safe, we will remove the Celiac Disease Foundation logo.”
Also note that the CDF was promoting the Gluten-Free Cheerios BEFORE the product even came out. Here is what they posted on their Facebook page on March 25, 2015, during the GM meeting that I was at when we didn’t even know what their protocols were:
“CDF’s CEO is currently at the Gluten-Free Summit to learn about the new process to remove gluten from oats. This development was three years in the making! Which flavor of Cheerios are you most excited for?”
You got that? Even though we all had NO IDEA whether they’d be safe, they were already telling their large audience, with no hesitation, to get excited.
That. Makes. Me. Sad. Their top priority should be to protect the celiac community.
That should be the priority of every celiac organization and influencer.
So there you have it.
Has anything changed in the past several years? Nope.
Proceed with caution.
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