Gluten-free Cheerios had one job, and it failed
General Mills issued a major recall yesterday: 1.8 million boxes of gluten-free Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios were accidentally made with wheat.
The company said that the boxfuls of breakfast cereal produced in its Lodi, California plant during thirteen days in July were accidentally made with wheat flour, which is toxic to people with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. To check if your Cheerios are among the contaminated, check labeling for the “BETTER IF USED BY” dates below:
On the company blog, Jim Murphy, president of General Mills, said he was “embarrassed and truly sorry” about the recall and attributed it to “purely human error.”
General Mills only recently started labeling its oat-based cereals as gluten-free in a bid to keep consumers from moving on to greener and more protein-rich breakfast pastures. Sales of Cheerios, like other cold cereal brands, peaked back in 2008, and have been falling ever since.
For those who chose Cheerios over a breakfast sandwich because it was gluten-free, General Mills just gave them a reason to pick up a smoothie habit instead.
Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news.
More stories from Quartz:
