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Gluten-Free Foods May Contain Gluten

Are Cheerios Gluten Free?

General Mills hit some headwinds when people started getting sick from GF Cheerios…

Back when General Mills first came out with gluten-free Cheerios…

They hit some headwinds when people from the gluten-free community started complaining they were getting sick or not feeling well.

The Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) actually came out and claimed they would NOT recommend Gluten-Free Cheerios for anyone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance…

Which was obviously a blow for General Mills…

Here’s an excerpt from our original post:

“Oats are an extremely high-risk grain and even “gluten-free oats” are at high risk for gluten contamination”

“…our scientific advisors are not convinced that the testing procedures described by General Mills are sufficient…”

and another point:

But the US based Celiac Disease Foundation okays Gluten-Free Cheerios…(and they are their largest corporate sponsor) – Gluten-Free Dude

So Are Cheerios Gluten-Free?

In the time since they first launched, the Cheerios team have done a lot to refine the process for keeping their oats gluten free…which is the main ingredient in Cheerios.

It’s worth checking out the Cheerios gluten free page and watching the process they use…

Still…I think most people with celiac disease or serious intolerance to gluten avoid Cheerios.

If you watch the video on their page, it’s amazing the processes they put in place to filter gluten grains like wheat, rye and barley out from the oats…

The scale at which they do things is amazing…and it’s eye-opening to see just how much of a grain like oats they need to meet the demand for their cereals.

But at the end of the day, these are not certified gluten free oats (which basically means the oats were not processed near the gluten grains so there is no cross contamination concern)…

and that means the oat flour used to make gluten-free Cheerios is a risk for anyone really sensitive to gluten.

Same with Honey Nut Cheerios…

But Product Testing Says They Are Gluten Free?

There are various levels of testing for allergens in food…

The most common (and practical / affordable) approach is to batch test the finished product.

General Mills batch tests Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios Gluten Free cereals to check that gluten levels are below the 20 parts per million (ppm) threshold considered safe for people with celiac disease.

As you can imagine, many batches will show as gluten-free…

But several batches go by every day and are never tested.

General Mills Gluten-Free Cereals

If you are really serious about avoiding gluten then you may want to avoid Gluten-Free Cheerios…

But General Mills have a variety of other gf cereal besides Gluten-Free Cheerios on offer…

Can you trust ANY of them?

Yes!!

Here is what we recommend: AVOID the General Mills gluten-free products made with OATS!

That includes Lucky Charms!

Our FAVORITE are the Chex cereals…

Including Rice Chex, Vanilla Chex, Cinnamon Chex, Chocolate Chex…

What Should YOU Do?

The thing about Cheerios is they could make you (or your child) sick…

Do you want to risk that? Honestly, getting glutened is not life threatening like many allergies! Thankful!

So it is really up to you…but if your keeping your kid gf to help them feel better, then best to avoid risking Cheerios for now. There are plenty of other cereals out there as listed in our gluten free foods list!

And keep an eye on this subject…

Because General Mills is working on it…and they have the best intentions!

By the way, we don’t approve of shaming or hating on companies that TRY to provide gluten-free options.

It may not be perfect for you or me…but hey, they invest a lot in it – risking losing money, reputation, etc. and it’s worth acknowledging the effort and supporting the journey!

At least that is our opinion 🙂

Happy Gluten Free