Cheerios gluten recall- 2M boxes

[WanderingWinoZ]

www.cbsnews.com/news/cheerios-honey-nut-cheerios-recall-due-to-allergy-risk/


General Mills is recalling 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios, including regular Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios, that could put people with wheat allergies and celiac disease at risk.



In an apologetic letter to the public, General Mills senior vice president and president of the cereal division, Jim Murphy, said, "I am embarrassed and truly sorry to announce today that we are recalling boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced on several dates at our Lodi, California facility."



The voluntary recall is due to wheat contamination in the cereals which are sold as gluten free products.



According to the company, the contamination occurred during four days of production of classic Cheerios and thirteen days of production of Honey Nut Cheerios at the company's Lodi facility in July. Other General Mills plants were not affected.



The company says the recall affects boxes labeled with the following codes:



cheerios-recall-image-620-pix.png

GENERAL MILLS

Products containing wheat can cause illness or severe reactions for individuals with wheat allergies or celiac disease, which affects about 1 percent of the population, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Wheat can also cause illness or discomfort for people with gluten intolerance.



In light of the contamination, General Mills said it is instituting additional flour-handling protocols at all of their facilities to ensure contamination will not happen again.



"Please know we'll be working even harder to earn back your trust," Murphy said in a statement. "We sincerely apologize to the gluten-free community and to anyone who may have been impacted."



Consumers who would like to request refunds or who have further questions can contact General Mills Consumer Services at 1-800-775-8370. More information is available on the company's web site.

[earlgreyhot]

That is how one apologizes when they make a mistake.

[ttt]

I don't understand how you accidentally put gluten in a product that normally doesn't contain it. How does this happen?

[y4m]

Oct 6, 2015 8:08:46 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't understand how you accidentally put gluten in a product that normally doesn't contain it. How does this happen?

Typically cross contamination.  You use equipment that was used on wheat earlier and not effectively cleaned before using on something gluten free.

[ttt]

Oct 6, 2015 9:08:54 GMT -5 y4m said:

Oct 6, 2015 8:08:46 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't understand how you accidentally put gluten in a product that normally doesn't contain it. How does this happen?

Typically cross contamination.  You use equipment that was used on wheat earlier and not effectively cleaned before using on something gluten free.

Ohhh that makes sense. Thanks. 

[y4m]

Actually that's not what happened this time though:

This recall includes four days production of original Cheerios and thirteen days of production of Honey Nut Cheerios at that California facility.

"Our Lodi production facility lost rail service for a time and our gluten-free oat flour was being off-loaded from rail cars to trucks for delivery to our facility on the dates in question," Jim Murphy, president of General Mills’ cereal business, said in a statement on a company blog. "In an isolated incident involving purely human error, wheat flour was inadvertently introduced into our gluten-free oat flour system at Lodi."

[y4m]

Oct 6, 2015 9:24:08 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

so i bought a box of cheerios and the box was making a BFD about being gluten free. on the back it showed photos of oats and proclaimed them to be gluten free and also showed rye and two other grains that "sometimes" get in the oat mix. how the hell does that happen if cheerios is all oat to begin with?

unless they used oat and rye and other gluten shit and didnt care before but now they see $$$$$$$ so they just stopped adding the additional shit in?

Oats are almost always cross contaminated with wheat, unless you take really special precautions to prevent it.  One reason is that Oats and Wheat/Barley are often rotated on farms season over season.  A lot of farms usually grow both too, so unless they maintain completely separate equipment, it happens easily.  Think two sets of identical equipment for planting, harvesting, processing, etc.  Wheat is also a nasty grain that sticks to everything.

[redheadbaker]

Oct 6, 2015 8:08:46 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't understand how you accidentally put gluten in a product that normally doesn't contain it. How does this happen?

Cross-contamination?