Consumers who would like to request refunds or who have further questions can contact General Mills Consumer Services at 1-800-775-8370.
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“I am embarrassed and truly sorry to announce today that we are recalling boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios”, Jim Murphy, the head of General Mills’ USA cereal business, wrote on a company blog. The problem: they were made with wheat flour on a number of days in July, due to “human error”.
‘This recall is a result of an isolated incident where wheat was accidentally introduced into our gluten-free oat system. They are gluten-free, as the label on the box indicates.
Those with wheat allergies or celiac disease could suffer an allergic reaction or discomfort after consuming the cereal. That means that both the original Cheerios cereal and the Honey Nut Cheerios created during two weeks in July could contain wheat, even if the Cheerios boxes say “gluten-free” on the label.
JP Morgan estimated it affected about 1% of Cheerios’ annual production.
The recall, however, did not affect the Apple Cinnamon, Frosted and MultiGrain varieties nor were the other products made on other dates or produced in other facilities included in the said recall. “We’ll also continue to test products and our oat flour supply extensively to ensure our products meet the gluten-free standard”, the company said in their website.
A company spokeswoman said General Mills did not yet have a cost estimate for the recall.
A press release stated that contamination happened at the company’s Lodi, California location while offloading flour.
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The cereal boxes have “better if used by” dates of July 2016 and the plant code “LD”.
