Dive Brief:
- General Mills will begin labeling five brands of Cheerios "gluten-free," including Original and Honey Nut, the top-selling cereal in America.
- Four of these brands didn't require recipe changes because the cereals are made of oats, which are gluten-free. Only Multi Grain Cheerios needed to remove barley and wheat from its recipe.
- General Mills spent the approximately last three years developing a special filter that prevents any potential gluten contamination of its oats by protecting them from grains that could have mixed in with the oats either in the fields or on transport trains.
Dive Insight:
Gluten-free is one of the latest health food trends, as more consumers turn away from gluten-containing grains in favor of what they consider to be a healthier breakfast option. As a result, cereal sales have slumped over the past few years partially due to this. But General Mills might have the right idea, considering the company already saw an uptick in sales when it began labeling its Chex brand as gluten-free, which was also already gluten-free without a recipe change.