innovation

Feb 11, 2015 • By Kevin Hunt

New gluten-free choices from Big G

A simple change means more people eating gluten-free foods will soon be able to enjoy their favorite kind of Cheerios again.

Beginning in July, five Cheerios products will be going gluten free: Original Cheerios, Honey Nut, Multi-Grain, Apple Cinnamon and Frosted.

“This is exciting news for the cereal category, probably the biggest news since our commitment to whole grain in every box,” says Jim Murphy, president of our Big G cereal division. “We know there are many consumers – as much as 30 percent in the U.S. – who avoid gluten. And, people are looking for more gluten-free options for cereal so it’s important that we make these five varieties of gluten-free Cheerios available.”

So, how can these cereals now be labeled gluten free?

We’ve developed a way – years in the making – to sort out the small amount of wheat, rye and barley in our supply of whole oats that are inadvertently introduced at the farms where the oats were grown, or during transportation of the whole oats to the mill.

This ensures that the oats used for Cheerios allow us to meet the FDA’s strict guideline for gluten free.

Jim says the five gluten-free Cheerios products will have the same great taste they do today. Only Multi-Grain needed to be reformulated, because they contain wheat and barley (which will be replaced with sorghum and millet).

The gluten-free Cheerios products will be clearly marked for consumers.

Again, you’ll start seeing them on the shelves in July.

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