Gluten free Cheerios warning !!

[Arduaine]

Hi all just wanted to put it out there that I had a reaction from a box of “gluten free” honey nut Cheerios - the expiry date on the box is nov 2019. 

 

Having googled I can see that there have been questions raised about this product before. Anyway AVOID!!!!!! 

 

Fi 

x

[Ennis-TX]

Yeah big FDA thing still about the oat sorting....but when they use a machine to sort wheat out from oats....those oats are still CCed in my opinion. The method that they use for testing this boxes has been a hot debate for years and Gluten Free Watchdog has done many articles and presentations on how the cheerios are being "tested" and it is ridiculous.

Celiacs should avoid all oat based products from General mills or any company that uses the mechanically sorted oats. IF you wish to use oats go with one that follows purity protocol like GFHarvest. DO NOTE some celiacs react to any kind of oats in some form or fashion and for many we suggest avoiding them for awhile starting off.

 

[moleface]

This is why I stick to inherently gluten-free foods - I've been burned too many times. 

Oats are obviously a huge source of cross contamination, so even if it tested at the 20ppm limit, it still could contain gluten-contaminated oats, albeit at the legal limit. I can't speak for everyone, but I seem to react to any amount of gluten. I've had issues multiple times with specialty "gluten free" foods that turned out to have the "processed in a facility with wheat" warning. Same with supplements from facilities with GMP procedures that supposedly prevent cross-contamination. 

I was eating Kroger "gluten free" salt and vinegar potato chips for a few months earlier this year, and I kept getting mystery gluten symptoms. Finally I checked the label and saw "malt vinegar powder" in the ingredients. So it must have tested at the 20ppm limit, hence the "gluten free" label on the package, but absolutely DID contain gluten. This miniscule, legally-gluten-free amount was enough to give me symptoms. 

[apprehensiveengineer]

7 minutes ago, moleface said:

 Finally I checked the label and saw "malt vinegar powder" in the ingredients. So it must have tested at the 20ppm limit, hence the "gluten free" label on the package, but absolutely DID contain gluten.

That's a violation of the FDA gluten-free regulations. Malt vinegar is not allowed as an ingredient regardless of whether it is under 20 ppm gluten. Gluten Free Watchdog has called out Kroger for this product: https://www.facebook.com/258784214186574/posts/product-alert-kroger-brand-salt-vinegar-chips-remain-on-store-shelves-these-chip/1803670996364547/

I do not live in the USA, but would urge you to file a complaint about the violation with the FDA. Nothing will change if people don't report companies for doing this. If enough people make a big deal about it to the FDA and Kroger, change might happen.

[TrainInVain]

Though I've been having Multi Grain Cheerios 3-5 times a week since celiac diagnosis in July with no issues, this info is enough to make me steer clear for now.

[moleface]

2 hours ago, apprehensiveengineer said:

That's a violation of the FDA gluten-free regulations. Malt vinegar is not allowed as an ingredient regardless of whether it is under 20 ppm gluten. Gluten Free Watchdog has called out Kroger for this product: https://www.facebook.com/258784214186574/posts/product-alert-kroger-brand-salt-vinegar-chips-remain-on-store-shelves-these-chip/1803670996364547/

I do not live in the USA, but would urge you to file a complaint about the violation with the FDA. Nothing will change if people don't report companies for doing this. If enough people make a big deal about it to the FDA and Kroger, change might happen.

Yeah, I considered doing that, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I feel like one call wouldn't make much of a difference, and I'd be complaining to an underpaid customer service representative who has no control over any of this.

Plus even though I know my issue is legitimate, I know there's a good chance the rep would just be rolling their eyes at the fad dieter who thinks malt vinegar powder hurt them.

Still though, I was shocked to find that Kroger was blatantly breaking the law like that. Omission got taken to court over this and had to change the label on their beer to "gluten reduced", even though it typically only tests at 10ppm. That stuff gives me a terrible reaction too.

 

 

[cyclinglady]

2 minutes ago, moleface said:

Yeah, I considered doing that, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I feel like one call wouldn't make much of a difference, and I'd be complaining to an underpaid customer service representative who has no control over any of this.

Plus even though I know my issue is legitimate, I know there's a good chance the rep would just be rolling their eyes at the fad dieter who thinks malt vinegar powder hurt them.

Still though, I was shocked to find that Kroger was blatantly breaking the law like that. Omission got taken to court over this and had to change the label on their beer to "gluten reduced", even though it typically only tests at 10ppm. That stuff gives me a terrible reaction too.

 

 

Forget reporting to Kroger.  Contact the FDA.  Learn how to report mis-labeled gluten-free products properly:

https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/

 

[apprehensiveengineer]

Just now, moleface said:

Yeah, I considered doing that, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I feel like one call wouldn't make much of a difference, and I'd be complaining to an underpaid customer service representative who has no control over any of this.

Plus even though I know my issue is legitimate, I know there's a good chance the rep would just be rolling their eyes at the fad dieter who thinks malt vinegar powder hurt them.

Still though, I was shocked to find that Kroger was blatantly breaking the law like that. Omission got taken to court over this and had to change the label on their beer to "gluten reduced", even though it typically only tests at 10ppm. That stuff gives me a terrible reaction too.

 

 

If everyone had that attitude, there would be no gluten-free regulations at all! Other people have complained, and once complaints build up, change can happen... and if it doesn't, I'd rather say I tried to make things better for myself and others. Advocacy for other medical conditions and disabilities (eg. wheelchair users) has only been successful because patients and their families refuse to accept the status quo.

Recently, I spent some time dealing with regulators and a grocery chain about how they were advertising pre-packaged spelt flour and regular couscous as gluten-free. I contacted the company initially (privately), and they gave me some wishy-washy answer but didn't do anything about it. I went up the chain to my country's regulatory agencies, and at each stage explained why it was an important problem - initially they didn't get it either, but I spent the time to make sure they did. I also called out the company publicly on social media. Long story short, the grocery store chain fixed the problem. I think this was important because even though *I* know spelt is not gluten-free, and all celiacs should know that, non-celiacs who buy or make food for celiacs may not be aware of this and make someone sick. I also think that when the rules are broken and not fixed, it sets a precedent that it does not matter.

[Arduaine]

Yes to all the above- normally I can eat gluten-free oats as long as I’m not suffering from a gluten reaction already. 

 

I’m actually based in the uk and a friend brought me them from America... I hadn’t seen them on sale here so perhaps they Didn’t meet European good safety standards. I’ve tweeted General Mills and they have asked for more info so I’ll let you know what they say but I imagine it’s due to the mechanical sorting probs mentioned by what Ennis said above (I doubt they will admit that though) 

 Very frustrating as you want to trust labelling. Have gone most of a year with no reactions so it’s so disheartening to be back at square one.... I guess l have to make all the beginners mistakes first. Anyway thanks for the support guys ... I find it dufficult to keep reading up on gluten-free news because I don’t want it to take over my life but I wish I had read about General Mills Before!! 

 

Fi

 

x 

[Arduaine]

Hi just a quick update - I heard back from General Mills from their European branch ... they said I shouldn’t worry as the European rules are much stricter than in America and offered me vouchers.... they didn’t comment on the fact that this seems to imply they simply are doing the bare minimum required by their American consumers or the fact that I still managed to eat this product as a European and I’ve seen the American brand on sale in the uk. 

I have now tested the packet I bought with a Nima sensor - first test came up positive for gluten and I retested the same packet another two times and these tests were negative. For me thats enough to not trust General Mills products. A search on twitter showed a number of people with the same problem complaining around the same time as well. 

Its now ten days later and I’m still feeling the after effects so I’m pretty pissed off! I have complained to the FDA and I really hope they take action on this soon. 

 

[laf2005laurie]

no longer eat prepared cereal after i had baffling reaction to General Mills gluten-free Chex just after it first came out as gluten-free product (2009-10?) . I even called GM --wanted to know what was in it--woman spoke to said they don't have to claim any ingredient that is less than 2% and advised me to go to an ER!! So, I just stopped eating and got better but up to that point for about 2 wks, every day felt worse and worse unable to figure out where prob ws coming from. Even thought it was milk allergy so tried soy and rice milk and still got awful sick-- and blamed soy.  Finally I bought almond milk and drank a glass in the afternoon with no reaction. Next morning, on cereal in minutes it made me shakey, have headache, etc...I was down to near the bottom of the box.  It could have been something in the particular box or the lot so didn't bother to condemn GM over it....to much but now I have to wonder.