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General Mills will no longer use genetically modified organisms in its Cheerios breakfast cereal.

(AP file photo)

General Mills said it will stop using genetically modified organisms in its Cheerios breakfast cereal amid growing opposition to the use of such ingredients, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

The company made the announcement on its website, saying it would no longer source genetically modified corn and sugar to make the breakfast cereal, The Times reported.

General Mills said Cheerios has always been made with whole grain oats, not GMO oats. "We do use a small amount of corn starch in cooking, and just one gram of sugar per serving for taste," according to the statement, from Tom Forsythe a spokesman for Minneapolis-based General Mills. That will stop, he said.

The company said the change isn't about safety.

"We did it because we think consumers may embrace it," General Mills said.

The move comes two weeks after Whole Foods announced it would stop selling Chobani yogurt in early 2014 to make way for more organic options and brands free of genetically modified organisms.

For General Mills, which introduced the Cheerios brand for more than 70 years ago, the move applies only to original Cheerios, not other varieties of the cereal.

The familiar yellow box will remain the same, but will now say: “not made with genetically modified ingredients.”

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