(RxWiki News) If you're one of the many Americans who has a gluten allergy, you may want to check the pantry before you pour your morning bowl of cereal.
General Mills announced Monday that it has issued a voluntary recall of around 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at the company's Lodi, CA, facility in July of this year.
This announcement comes after officials discovered that some of the company's gluten-free-labeled Cheerios may actually contain wheat, raising concerns for customers with gluten allergies.
According to a press release from General Mills, this recall is due to an isolated incident that resulted in wheat flour being accidentally added to the company's gluten-free oat flour at the Lodi facility. The Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at other plants were not affected.
"We sincerely apologize to the gluten-free community and to anyone who may have been impacted," wrote Jim Murphy, president of the General Mills Cereal Division, in a blog post about the incident. "We care deeply about making safe, nutritious, gluten free products more widely available, and we’ve worked very hard to ensure our products are gluten free. Today we must acknowledge that we failed to meet that commitment for a time, and we’re recalling all affected products as a result."
Ingesting gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye) can cause adverse health effects in those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Customers with these conditions should not consume the affected products.
This recall includes boxes of Cheerios with a "BETTER IF USED BY" date of July 14, 15, 16 or 17 of 2016 and the plant code LD, which indicates that it was produced at the Lodi facility. Affected boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios include a "BETTER IF USED BY" date of July 12 through 25 of 2016, and the plant code LD.
General Mills is currently in the process of retrieving the affected cereals from warehouses and store shelves. Customers who purchased these products can contact General Mills for a full refund or replacement.
According to General Mills, other gluten-free Cheerios varieties — including Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Frosted Cheerios and MultiGrain Cheerios — are not being recalled. No other General Mills cereals were affected.
