When I saw Cheerios in my parent’s pantry, my stomach dropped to the floor, steam came out of my nose and I almost flipped a lid. But then I reminded myself that my Dad who bought this very popular cereal isn’t on Facebook, so he hadn’t seen my posts about how Cheerios can contain several different GMO ingredients nor had he seen that I was actively involved in a campaign as a Steering Committee member of GMO Inside to get GMOs removed from Cheerios.
It wasn’t his fault that he was buying this stuff, he was in the dark, like many of us still are. I mean, this cereal is even sold at places like Whole Foods for goodness sakes! It is estimated that 6.4 million people in the US start their day with a bowl of Cheerios. Geez.
Cheerios Can Contain Several GMO Ingredients
Cheerios is one of the first solid foods introduced to most children when they start to eat. To expose our children and ourselves to GMOs is a big mistake, considering all the health implications that are being seen with their introduction to the food supply.
The commercials talking about how wholesome Cheerios are and how your grandparents ate Cheerios and how they are the same today make me want to hurl something at the TV because they are all marketing lies. Cheerios have been in fact changed through out the years to include genetically engineered ingredients. These ingredients were added after it was introduced into the United States & Canada sometime after 1996, right under our noses.
The report titled “Deception at General Mills: The Real CSR Report” by Green America & GMO Inside revealed a startling comparison. Take a look at what Cheerios was made with in 1945 and what it is made with now:
1945 ingredients: oat flour, salt, sugar, sodium phosphate, malted wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamine (Vitamin B1), and riboflavin
2013 Ingredients: whole grain oats (includes the oat bran), modified corn starch, sugar, Salt, tripotassium phosphate, wheat Starch, vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) added to preserve freshness. (Likely GMO ingredients in bold and red).
General mills claims to manufacture wholesome and healthy products when, in reality, its brands have changed over time to include GMOs. While General Mills promotes Cheerios for its use of whole grain oats, stating, “the whole grain oats in Cheerios cereal are natural,” it is silent about the fact that many of the other ingredients in Cheerios sold in the U.S., including modified corn starch, sugar, vitamin e, canola, and natural flavors, are at high risk of being genetically modified.
See all the potential sources of GMO ingredients in a sampling of Cheerio products here (GMO ingredients are listed in red):
General Mill’s Voluntarily Removed GMOs From Their Products In Europe But Not For The US or Canada
When Europe decided to enact GMO labeling, General Mills voluntarily removed GMOs from all their Cheerios products overseas. The report details out the difference in ingredients and exposes General Mills for exploiting Americans & Canadians by using GMOs here but not in Europe. This is the same stuff Kraft pulled with their Macaroni & Cheese, when Europe enacted GMO labeling. Instead of labeling their European products with “contain genetically engineered ingredients” – they voluntarily took the GMOs out and replaced them with natural conventional ingredients.
Take a look at some example Cheerios products from Europe below – none of them contain GMOs. This makes you wonder how you can trust a company that is feeding our friends across the pond safer foods, while feeding us untested and harmful ingredients back home – and to their own fellow citizens! Is it too much to ask the same for us in the United States of America? How much do our sickness, obesity, and mortality rates have to worsen before they respond to us?
General Mill’s Cheerios Parent Company Is Giving Millions Of Dollars To Prevent GMO-Labeling
Adding insult to injury, General Mills has spent $1.1 million to oppose GMO labeling legislation in CA, thus perpetuating consumer deception. In Washington State, General Mills is covertly funding the campaign opposing labeling initiative 522 through the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). (Breaking – The GMA is getting sued for hiding the sources of these funds right now). General Mills’ CEO Ken Powell is the vice chair of the GMA, which to date has given $7.2 million to fight I-522. Polls of Americans demonstrate that more than 93 percent support the labeling of GMOs. General Mills has ignored growing consumer concerns about GMOs and failed to even label their products that contain GMOs. Instead, the company defends GMOs as safe and beneficial.
Vote With Your Dollars, Choose Safe Brands
I understand many people have grown up with Cheerios and want alternatives and they are wondering what to do next considering this startling deception by General Mills. This chart below details out good alternatives to Cheerios that are both non-GMO and organic. It also shows you other brands that don’t make the cut. Please share with your family and friends and encourage them to stop buying Cheerios.
5 Ways To Take Action Now
So what else can you do about this? Take at least one if not all of the actions below:
- Sign petition to General Mills’ CEO
- Call General Mills at (800) 248 – 7310
- Post on the Cheerios Facebook page
- Read the full report “Deception at General Mills: The Real CSR Report”
- Watch a new video about the concerns with GMOs in Cheerios
When you sign the petition, you are asking General Mills to be a leader by:
- Removing GMOs from all General Mills products – Starting with Cheerios (by 2015), General Mills will responsibly source its products’ ingredients from sources that are certified non-GMO or organic.General Mills will commit to and publish a timeline with incremental deadlines to shift its entire portfolio to non-GMO sources by 2018 (Including all Cheerios varieties, all cereals, and all other food categories.)
- Testing for and Labeling GMOs – During the transition period from its current GMO-intensive supply chain to a non-GMO supply chain, General Mills should test its supply chain for GMOs and voluntarily label its GMO ingredients in all products that contain or likely contain GMOs.
- Ending all opposition to GMO labeling – General Mills will commit to spend no money against state and federal GMO labeling initiatives. General Mills will encourage the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to end its opposition to GMO labeling. General Mills will offset its contribution through the GMA to “No on I-522” (Washington State’s ballot initiative for GMO labeling) by contributing the same amount to “Yes on I-522” or in support of a future state labeling initiative.
Holding these companies accountable is just as important as voting with our dollars.
If you know someone who might still be buying and consuming Cheerios – please share this post with them. And if you know anyone in Washington State, make sure you tell them how important it is to vote yes on 1-522!
Thank you for your support. You are the Food Babe Army – and I love you!
Food Babe
GMO’s are horrible, take them OUT!!
What makes them so horrible Sharon?
You need to start reading/researching about GMO’s, then you will understand why people want to eat HEALTHY
GMO’s are NOT a product of nature, so they are NOT compatible with us humans who ARE a product of nature. Think of it like putting diesel in a non diesel vehicle, they’re not made for each other, and repercussions will follow. The basic way I’ve found to remember what is ok versus what definitely isn’t is this: If we keep putting things IN our bodies and ON our bodies not made by the same Maker who made us, we WILL suffer the consequences. And remember, sometimes those repercussions are immediate, and sometimes they may take years to show up. With respect to whatever you believe, I happen to believe that man’s origins are from the earth. So, it just makes sense that products from the earth and not from a lab were intentionally made for us.
There are no clinical studies proving GMO’s have any harmful effects on humans. People get upset stomachs from eating cereal it is more than likely from the grain. Until there is solid proof it should be a persons choice to eat what they want without criticism from people who believe everything they read on the internet. It has been proven that 75% of info on internet is opinion and not fact.
Then there should be no problems in labeling them so that we, the consumer, can make our own choices, right?
Good try. There have been several peer reviewed studies showing organ damage.
Erin, you proved my point of people believing every thing that they read on the internet. A study is not a controlled clinical test. A study would be like recording someones daily activity for six months and saying this man died from liver failure and it could be because he ate food with GMO’s and probably not from the daily alcohol consumption and numerous prescription drugs he was taking daily.
There have been no factual studies done to prove GMO’s are harmless either ( except studies FUNDED by Big Food and Monsanto). I do not need studies to tell me that plants which have round up spliced into them CANNOT POSSIBLY BE GOOD FOR YOU! This is basic common sense! Do you add pesticides to your food?
Tom , you are so out of touch with reality. I know personally some people like you who spend hours on the internet researching OPINIONS. Any psychologist will tell you that if you hear or read something enough times it becomes very real to you. Since there has been no studies proving GMO’s bad or good your opinion is they must be bad based on your fears. And by the way,roundup spliced into plants, OMG that’s the best one ive heard in a while. Obviously you need professional help.
If you think that Plants somehow “have round up spliced into them”, it just shows that you buy into the alarmist BS propaganda that’s being spread by people who don’t understand how genetic modification/engineering works. This kind of misinformation is probably started (or FUNDED) by someone who has something to gain themselves, be it book sales, or shares in a company that otherwise makes money off of the fear they generate toward GMO’s. It’s impossible to “splice” roundup into a plant’s DNA because it has no DNA to splice – it is a chemical mixture. Genetic modification is done by taking the DNA sequence of a desireable trait that appears in another LIVING thing, and inserting it into the DNA of the organism that you want to have that trait.
I agree, companies shouldn’t be spending millions of dollars trying to keep from labeling. We should have a say on if we want to eat them or not. Just like those people who think studies companies are having to pay to prove to big companies that are making millions, that GMO are indeed bad for us have the choice to keep staying uniformed, unaware, uneducated and unhealthy.
As a consumer I have the right to know what I’m consuming because I’m paying for. Not disclosing that information is like pretending an individual will buy a home without any home inspection. It is just ridiculous.
Here is a study that you can do yourself, is it a clinical study? is that important to you before you make a decision to ingest non digestible food?
Place a bowl of organic non GMO corn on the floor with a bowl of BT corn, monsantos finest, chickens will bypass the GMO corn for the non Gmo corn every time. Even African chickens are smart enough to know that GMO corn is not good for them! Just search for chickens rejecting gmo corn.
Dan, while “spliced into” may be bad wording, several varieties of GM foods, have been modified to produce pesticide — specifically the BT toxin. Additionally, there have been studies showing that this genetically modified material is not digested properly in the gut, and therefore continues to produce pesticide within you after you eat the GMO. GMOs have also been linked to “leaky gut” syndrome. And if you refuse to believe that for whatever reason you choose, then regardless of WHERE the toxin is coming from, it is still testing positively in unsafe levels in people’s blood, all over the world, according to independent studies.
Additionally, GMOs have been linked to increased food allergies, cancer, even behavioral disorders in children, etc. Please see this video (it is one of MANY): http://eatlocalgrown.com/video/11895-kids-food-allergies-gmos.html
Unfortunately, while independent (and even peer-reviewed) studies are really the most unbiased studies there are, they are constantly considered “discredited” by more biased sources. Meanwhile, Monsanto proudly states on its own website that it has NEVER completed a human clinical study to prove GMOs are actually safe to consume (they claim it’s not necessary – it’s exactly the same as any other plant [which is how they were able to patent, right? It’s exactly the same]). So you either choose to believe the independent studies, and testimonies from people whose health and lives have changed by switching to organic foods, or you choose not to believe them. Regardless, it is your choice.
Either way, we should have the right to know what is in our food (labels), so we at least have the ABILITY to make the decision to eat genetically engineered or not.
Lee, Why are you even looking at the FoodBabe site? Just keep watching Fox and go clutter up someone else’s blog.
Lee, you mean a clinical study like this?: http://research.sustainablefoodtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Final-Paper.pdf
Rats are the most common animals that we test on before it’s used or consumed by humans. If it’s bad for rats, do you really think it’s good for humans? While there is no study done on humans, just the effects that these studies show on rats and pigs are enough. However, I have seen accounts of people who were diagnosed with health problems due to GMO. I have also seen accounts where someone who used to eat foods with GMO in it began eating organic, non-gmo and her health got better. Time will tell, but I have the right to know what’s in my food. They have to label farm and wild salmon. There is nothing wrong about adding an additional line to all foods.
If they are safe then why won’t the food companies LABEL, so consumers can make our own choices! What really burns me up is when companies label their foods “REAL” and you look at the ingredients and it’s anything but REAL!
SICK OF THE DECEPTION!
Lee, why don’t you go hang out on a General Mills/Monsanto/Kraft/etc webpage instead of here?
Someone once said, “The majority is always wrong.” You CAN eat whatever you want Lee. WE know better.
I have a friend, who has a medical background, who feels the same way about GMO’s, trusting corporate scientists to look out for the health of consumers. He also requires double blind studies to determine if a food product is unsafe. He is wheelchair bound, has muscular dystrophy, prostate cancer and takes over 20 medications a day. HE PAYS NO ATTENTION TO FOOD INGREDIENTS. On the other hand, I am 69 years old, I am very careful to eat unprocessed, organic foods (non GMO). I take no medications at all and am in very good health. I do not have a PHD, but I can read the hand writing on the wall.
I beg to differ, I have researched these issues for many years, these GMO’s are produced to make it intolerable to insects and rodents, they do this by making their own pesticide within the plant. This punches wholes in the stomach lining of the animal trying to eat it, this is just one of the horrible things you will eat with this GMO,the side effects are proven, look at your T.V., every commercial is about cancer, lupus, MS, depression, gut issues (due to leaky gut) *holes punched in the stomach, you name it it’s linked to GMO which is also a horrible form of gluten also. Mix these issues and add in PCB’s, and other chemicals that are put in our food source and there you have it, ALL OF AMERICA DIES………SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWWLLLLYYYYYY
EXACTLY!! It should be our CHOICE!!! Which means that we should be INFORMED when something contains a GMO. I do not want to be the guinea pig…because you are right, we do NOT know exactly what GMOs will do to our bodies over time. I, personally, believe that our bodies are meant to eat REAL food, and that’s what I’d like to feed my body and especially to my children’s developing bodies.
I have a nephew allergic to wheat, milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, and fish. He was diagnosed about one and a half months ago. Orgran is a brand where I am finding products he enjoys. Enjoy Life is another brand where we are finding success. Food babe, are these companies that pass your standards? On a personal note, I love tea. I know of your prior recommendations, but I would like to know if Stash Teas make your cut. Thanks:)
Buy only tea that is marked Organic. Then you will know that it is safe.
Organic does not mean “safe” in teas…there are no guarantees that they do not contain dangerous amounts of heavy metals and chemical contamination…try single source teas that are not from China (horrible heavy metal and chem. contamination) or Japan (radiation worries).
Now I know why I can’t eat any Cheerios products. Anytime I did eat them I would have horrible stomach and abdominal distress. Gave them up long ago and good thing too.
Good work – keep it up 🙂
Honey Nut Cheerios tear my stomach up, too! I won’t touch them! Unfortunately, my daughter eats them every day. We’ll have to find a healthy alternative for her that she’ll eat. Any suggestions?
Food Babe gives several suggestions WITH a grade! It is in the post!
be blessed.
I would love for you to take this article one step further and look into what the extrusion process does to healthy cereals. Supposedly, the more healthy, the more toxic they become. Would hate for you to endorse a cereal that seems healthy but is just as bad as the others.
Yeah – I’ve heard about this and it’s why I tend to eat whole real food vs. cereal on a regular basis. However, if I was eating Cheerios for all my life, I’d like to know alternative brands. I’m glad there are ones that I would actually eat!
What about the Whole Foods brands? Have you looked into those? I have been buying the Cascadian Farms brand but must say seeing that General Mills is the parent company is a big bummer for me…
I have an app called buycott that helps me scan brands that I’m not sure would have gmo’s! If you choose the campaign It will help you find brands that you would support in banning gmo’s and those that don’t and even lists the family tree of that brand ( e.g. Simply Orange orange juice is in the Coca Cola family tree)…good to know!
I can’t find such App – help!
What’s the story with Trader Joe’s? On your safe brands list you rated them a C+ and labeled them “self claimed non-GMO”. How can a consumer find out if their products contain GMO’s or not. I purchase a large amount if my groceries from the because I am under the assumption that they are GMO free. Is this the case? It would really be disturbing to find out one day that they, too, are a marketing and advertising sham…Can you please shed some light on this?
Here’s the full investigation on Trader Joe’s to learn more: https://foodbabe.com/2013/08/07/what-is-trader-joes-hiding/
Because it’s simply a private label and they just “guarantee” that their stuff is non-gmo. But the harsh reality is it’s not 100% sure. All Trader Joe’s does is, they have their vendor’s sign an affidavit stating that their product does not contain GMO. The problem that I personally have with this is that most of their products are just products we normally buy at any other store just that it’s privately labeled. So yes, that’s why it got a C+. Am I right FB?
Yes – bingo!
Trader Joes and Whole Foods still carry foods that have GMO’s in them. You still have to be careful. I only buy products now that state ORGANIC – NON GMO – Grass Fed etc. If it is not marked, I do not buy.
Cheerios used to be the only cereal my mom would let me eat when I was younger. However, I stopped eating cereal when I was 15 years old. I stopped eating all grain at that point too. I don’t eat anything in a package from the center aisles of the grocery store. I couldn’t be happier with my current lifestyle, and I have to credit my mother. She realized that Cheerios were no better than any other cereals out there and educated me enough to convince me to ditch it along with other packaged foods. Like mother like daughter 🙂
Grains are very bad for your gut. Research “Lectins”.
I googled lectins and wheat was mentioned many times but no mention of corn. If one wanted to grow organic non-GMO corn like an old variety of Indian corn would that have Lectins in it?
Have you done any research into Kroger’s Simple Truth organic brand? We have recently been buying their honey nut Os and we love them! Does organic always mean non- gmo?
I would love to know about this, too. Where I live in Tennessee, there are not a lot of options for organic foods unless I drive for about an hour to Whole Foods. I buy the Simple Truth Organic products from Kroger.
(to Lori) I live in PA and we are limited as well on which Organic products we can select from. It depends on which brand the grocery stores CHOOSE to carry, which is pretty much the brands that the big grocers manage to buy up….exp: Cascadian Farms, Kashi, and all the rest that have been bought up buy them. I learned about “The Green Polka Dot Box” through one of my natural sites and that is an ON-LINE store that ANYONE can purchase from!!! They offer all the good ORGANIC brands that have NOT been bought up by the big food corporations and they also seel all non-gmo foods as well!!! FINALLY, a place that you can trust without feeling like you are gonna be duped if you are not on guard. It’s wonderful to shop there and they mail it right to your door!! So, now i give the majority of my business to them and only have to buy very little at the grocery store!! Yay!!! and i also buy most of my foods from trusted farmers markets!! So, check it out and give it a try!
Why is Trader Joe’s product graded a C+? I’m very curious about this – it’s actually quite important to me since I shop weekly (and sometimes more often) at Trader Joe’s.
Because it’s simply a private label and they just “guarantee” that their stuff is non-gmo. But the harsh reality is it’s not 100% sure. All Trader Joe’s does is, they have their vendor’s sign an affidavit stating that their product does not contain GMO. The problem that I personally have with this is that most of their products are just products we normally buy at any other store just that it’s privately labeled. So yes, that’s why it got a C+.
Here’s the full investigation on Trader Joe’s to learn more: https://foodbabe.com/2013/08/07/what-is-trader-joes-hiding/
Isn’t Chex also a General Mills GMO cereal? I noticed their sponsorship of your page. Just curious.
They are definitely not sponsoring my page! If that is a google ad – we permanently block food and pharma ads and that must of slipped through somehow. Thanks for pointing it out.
I have just recently moved to the US from Europe and I am clearly shocked whats going on in this food industry. I feel that we have been eaten very safe food in Europe compared to the US and I switched to organic food to be on the safe side here. Thanks so much for all the information that I got and also the amazing research I have read up on your website!!!
I also recently moved – from Brazil – and am appalled by this disgusting industry. I’ve also learned that Monsanto is selling the GMOs and the pesticides to Brazil, Europe, Asia, to everywhere!!! They’re killing our world and the only way to fight back is to eat organic ALWAYS.
People that are into the know have wised up and are not using mainstream milk cause of the cows being injected with GMO hormones. Mow they want to add Aspartame artificial sweetner too. I switched to using Almond Milk, but last month I found out about one bad ingredient (Carrageenan). No form of carrageenan is safe; even so called food grade causes cancer. There is indeed at least one brand out there that doesn’t contain it and its called Silk Almond Milk. Check your healthfood or regular supermarket. Here’s just one link of many that explains it: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401181/Is-Carrageenan-Safe.html – Help us get the word out.
Hey Robert. Yes most Almond Milks and Coconut Milks contain carrageenan but I have found two that don’t, Whole Foods 365 Brand and Trader Joe’s Unsweetened Vanilla (in the refrigerator section), are the only two I buy. The 365 is the best because it is organic as well. That is what I give to my kids cause I don’t let them drink regular milk. Hope that helps! Also watch out for carrageenan in a lot of vegan products and meat alternatives to, it is in a ton of stuff!
Great info! I always feel bad when my family or friends buy almond milk or coconur milk with carageenan in it & think it’s healthy. I found a great little place locally that makes fresh almond milk…no additives. It is delicious!
Oh…. Cornmeal – yes, it may contain GMO components but cornstarch and sugar contain ZERO GMO because they do not contain any proteins or DNA from corn.
All General MIlls cereals and other processed foods also have tri-sodium phosphates in them, also known as TSP. TSP is found at the hardware store, it has a skull and crossbones on the box. TSP is used to wash nicotine off of walls before painting, it is used in tracer bullets and other industrial uses. Years ago, I called GM and asked them why they put a known poison in children’s cereals? They told me it was a “buffing agent”. I said for buffing what? I told them Quaker and Keloggs did not out this poison in their cereals, why do they? She then said, “I assure you it is safe, I feed it to my kids”! I said, well, I am NOT FEEDING IT TO MINE”!! I have never bought a food item from GM since!! That was over 20 years ago!!!
I’m a bit confused as to why in the first graphic, the sugar in Cheerios is listed as an ingredient that is likely GMO, but in the “Cheerios Do Not Contain GMOs in Europe” graphic, sugar is not considered a GMO ingredient? Maybe in Europe, sugar is never genetically modified?
I believe the sugar in the US cheerios is MOST likely from the sugar beet, which a lot of now is GM.
The sugar listed on European Cheerios is not GMO – otherwise the label would have a indication of that – because all foods that contain GMOs must be labeled in Europe.
GM sugar beet is illegal to grow in the EU – therefore none of our sugar contains GMOs (I’m in England, and actually live just behind a field of sugar beet!).
Food Babe what is your view on PC Organics cereals?
Have you seen the ‘approved foods’ lists for the WIC program and how many contain GMO’s or other unhealthy alternatives? Very few items are allowed to be organic. It is really quite disturbing how many are unhealthy choices for those mother’s and children who already have to struggle. Adding unhealthy food is just insane.
I totally agree. I am not in the WIC program, but know people who are and it hurts my heart seeing how they have to buy/eat such unhealthy food. Is there something that can be done? maybe petitioning to allow more Organic items to be included in the list?
Isn’t it interesting that Cascadian Farms is listed as a GMO “safe” cereal when it is owned by General Mills?
This list was compiled by GMO Inside – it is organic at least! You won’t find me buying General Mills anything because I vote with my dollars, however some people need options – the ones that only have access to a conventional grocery store, etc 🙂
I’ve been giving my kids Cascadian Farm honey o’s. Score B. Time to step it up. Thanks for sharing! I’m constantly learning to feed my kids through trial and error. There’s so much conflicting info out there.
We are all sensing the urgency to LEARN about what is going on with the food so that we can DECIDE what we want to feed our families, and it is truly an exhausting road ahead with all the lies and deceit to purposefully trick people!! One site that i found VERY HELPUL was “Institute for Responsible Technology” by Jeffrey Smith!! He has been sounding the alarm bell for YEARS, but nobody would listen…….and now, it is taking off!!! We are all starting to wake up and HEAR!! With his site, they help people to KNOW which are the good brands of ORGANIC food and which brands have been bought up by the big food corporations!! That way, we won’t be tricked into buying Cascadian Farms and/or Kashi because we will KNOW better!! So, good luck and i hope this helped you! 🙂
Hi Food Babe,
I fed my 10 month old fruit and plain unprocessed oatmeal for the beginning of his breakfast meals, but now he likes to pick up his food and feed himself. So I bought whole food’s brand organic Morning O’s. the ingredients are all simple and I know organic products cannot be labeled organic but contain GMO’s right? Thoughts on that cereal?
Thanks for all the information you put out there!!
I have been giving my kids the Whole O’s cereals from Nature path, here are the ingredients on the package:
brown rice flour*, corn flour*, granulated sugar cane juice*, pomegranate juice concentrate*, sea salt.
* organic.
Organic or not, 99.9% of boxed or bagged cereals are bad for you, due to a number of factors, including the extrusion process used to shape cereals into perfect little Os, squares, flakes, whatever…
I love your passion. i see that these companies are exploiting. But what are my options for breakfast as a mother of two young children 9 and 5. what can i give them for a breakfast and lunch? i have to be at the bus stop by 8am with both of them. being an indian born, i can make several foods like dosa and idli from scratch but its not possible to do it all the time and that too sending all of them for their day by 8am. green juices are not their thing. i would appreciate if you give us more options on what we can do. Thank you.
There is a chart included for alternatives – also check out my recipe for parfait porridge – you can make these in advance for Breakfast. https://foodbabe.com/recipe-rendezvous/
Thank you. Please continue to add more kid friendly recipes.
Love your posts! Got my family off the Cheerios a few months ago when I read it on your blog – and after several taste tests, my kids said they liked the Three Sisters brand, which is what I’ve been buying (from Whole Foods). Now that I read their ingredients list again, they are not proclaiming to be GMO-free. Any insight on if they are or not? Thank you!
You can lead the horse to water … The habit of buying foods is long ingrained in the person . I have tried ! So have you ! I went to a local drug/grocery store CVS and just took my time looking to see if they had one snack that didn’t have a load of poisons . I found a bottle of water FUJI and raw almonds . That’s It ! Our local grocery store has rolled over , They have multiple brands of organic . gluten free and grass feed . things . I would corner the manager raising hell until they changed . My nearest whole foods or trader joes is an hour each way … I guess its like a religious conversion LOL
I don’t buy regular cheerios any longer. I shop at Sprouts most of the time and I buy my daughter Os – but they say organic on the box. I am not sure they are GMO free and of course I can’t remember the name of the brand at this particular time, but I figure it has to be better than regular Cheerios.
I would like to tell you the name of the cereal I buy so you can tell me if it is okay for my 4-year-old. Darnit!
If the cereal is certified organic, then it is also non-GMO.
Yes!
I am buying lately Natures Path for my kids. They have low sugar NON GMO. I used to buy them and then to save some dollar went back again to the commercial brands like this one (General Mills). Not worthy so Im back to Natures Path. The BEST
Food Babe- Can you check into the brand Full Circle, more specifically their “Organic Toasted Oats”? They offer a Honey Nut Toasted Oats as well, but we typically get the plan Toasted Oats and sweeten it with local honey for our children. I would like to know if this supposedly organic brand is good or not so much. Thanks!
Please explain why sugar is listed as bad in the US list but not listed as bad in the cheerios from the UK? Not that I want to eat anything with sugar but I don’t understand why one is in red and one isn’t. To me, “sugar” is “sugar” how am I to know if one is different?
Sugar in the UK isn’t GMO, but is in the US
I did not know sugar was GMO! Why is honey listed? And vitamin e?
Honey bees are usually fed GMO high fructose corn syrup so perhaps that is why it is in red. Vitamin E is made from GMOs like corn, soy, or cottonseed (very poisonous). If you want supplements buy organic food based ones that are on the non-gmo-project verified list.
Thank you!
That Cheerios commercial bugs me everytime I see it, where the Mom tells her kid the Cheerios are pretty much the same as when she ate them as a kid. I almost always say back to the TV, ‘no they are not pretty much the same!!!’
The action here is to boycott the manufactures that insist in using GMO products. That is the best way to stop the insanity. There is an app for that as well, (free).
This makes me furious! People really need to be educated about GMOs! I recently started reading your blog and I think it’s wonderful. Keep up the great work spreading the word. I have been doing my part in a smaller way by doing a weekly post every Friday focusing on non-GMO brands. My blog is more of a lifestyle/home decor blog but since I feel so strongly about banning GMOs, I have made it a point to add the weekly post. Thanks for doing such an amazing job educating people about food!
-Shelley
I bought a box of regular Cheerios just recently, tried it and found it to be tasting kind of horrible. Not that good taste it used to have. Tasted like eating cardboard, I trust my taste buds more than anything, will not be buying this again until they go back to original ingredients or better.
Great info. Love reading and often share the articles. One small thing: use of apostrophes needs review.
Thanks Food Babe,
We stopped buying all cereal except for Non GMO & Organic and Natures Path is the one we buy. Our Dog use to also eat the Cheerios but now she is also eating the NP ones. Have to keep them health also.
We also make that Parfait Porridge recipe Love love love it! So does friends and family….
Thank you for giving us all your recipe’s to enjoy !
Our local grocery store (Wegman’s) up here in WNY just added a line of organic cereals. My kids love them, they don’t break the bank, and I know I’m doing the right thing for them. Thank you for posting this, as many of my friends eat this crap because General Mills has a big local presence in my town (they even sell shirts that say “my city smells like Cherrios” – ugh!). This post will get shared 🙂
Keep up the great work!
I am really shocked about Cheerios being a GMO product! I had just bought 2 big boxes (on sale mind you)… I have a good friend of mine who has her grandchildren (ages 6 & 4) explaining everything about GMOS, nutrition and eating healthy. Be sure to check out the link: http://youtu.be/01YyyqlBzFA
It’s mostly sad that Cheerios are such a major finger food for babies as they’re beginning to eat. I recall my 9 month old eating plenty. Now, knowing what I do, it’s so very disturbing to me that these tiny little systems were being “nourished” with harmful products. I try to continue to look ahead though, not at my past mistakes.
You know the next thing to do is to try to get them to take a hit with WIC that is our tax dollars at work.
The Women Infants and Children program is big money for these cereal manufacturers.
Shame on them because that is a good program and the value back for your tax dollar is excellent in terms of healthy infants and children.
WIC needs to give women a choice at least if not just change the cereal lineup to buy organic cause all the stores carry the organic now.
They have made everyone a science experiment without our permission.
One thing to do is to start working with your DAY CARE to remove Cheerios immediately. Day cars across the country give this toxic product to young children. Tell them that you are seriously considering switching day cares because of Cheerios and other toxic foods. YOU ARE THE CLIENT in the day care system. If enough moms/dads complain changes will be made. Recommend Nature’s Path, Barbara’s or Field Day. (Cascadian Farms is owned by GM so don’t recommend that one).
I think General Mills is trying to kill us. One cheerio at a time.
I stopped buying cheerios years ago, they don’t seem to have much in them. When you eat them, your hungry again very soon. So we don’t eat cereal at all. We eat something that has protein and nutrients that are important to us. But thank you Food Babe you are doing good.
oh yeah….been there…done that. Cheerios used to be a staple for “healthy cereal” choice until I wisened up in 2010. Now it is either warm quinoa with nuts, cranberres, cinnamon and splash of almond milk in the winter months or a non- GMO, GF, DF, SF Arbonne vegan protein shake in warm weather or when no time to sit for breakfast. I try to tell people that Cheerios RAISES cholesterol and its bad for the heart, and they think I am nuts! But iti does! (LOL)
Plain & simple DO NOT EAT CEREAL ! We do not need grains & sugar !
Any thoughts on Mom’s Best Honey O’s? Its sold here in Kroger organic section. Its the only non-popular brand my husband will eat. Luckily my son will eat anything I feed him!
If GMOs are so safe to eat, why are all the corporations SCARED TO DEATH of labeling their products?????
If GMO’s aren’t harmful then why do other countries ban them??? People can’t seriously believe that GMO’s are safe can they????!!!! Ugghhhhhh If they are so safe then why spend millions trying to avoid labeling them???!!! People really need to educate themselves. Thanks Food Babe for standing up for us. I always used to buy cheerios for my kids but that stopped a long time ago!!!!! Its probably the CEO of Cheerios commenting here on how safe GMO’s are HAHA
I also love that those Lean Cuisine meals that had the GMO ingredients are constantly on super clearance at the grocery store!!! get rid of the crap one thing at a time!
I see that GMOs are bad, but what are they? what does GMO stand for? maybe you said it but i reread and missed it.
thank you
Genetically Modified Organism or as some have said “God move over” because in our arrogance and extreme ignorance and unbelievable total apathy for our fellow man, we just want your money……SO disappointed in our country for allowing this and Europe, thanks for caring about YOUR citizens.
The Kraft petition only needs a few more signatures!! And by a few I mean a hundred thousand, but still so close! Are you going to keep at it and share it?!
The GMO issue is about INFORMED CONSENT. Whether or not GMO’s are dangerous to our natural biological well being has yet to be determined. Just as in the case with cigarettes before it was determined that they had any deleterious biological repercussions…lol. LABEL GMO’s!!! Then I can decide for myself if I want to experiment with my body…for the sake of making the stock holders and CEO’s of Monsanto and Syngenta rich.
Whether or not GMO’s are dangerous to our natural biological well being has yet to be determined. – says commenter dale.
This is a blatant lie. If you are not a Monsanto shill try..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2205509/Cancer-row-GM-foods-French-study-claims-did-THIS-rats–cause-organ-damage-early-death-humans.html
ThomasT, I’m pretty sure Chris was being sarcastic. You might want to re-read his comment. It was pretty tongue in cheek.
GMO’s have already been shown to cause digestive issues and cause cows to give abnormal births.
BS.. GE corn has been used for almost 2 decades. If GE feed was causing cows to have abnormal births then cattle and dairy farmers would have stopped using it! Duh! How do I know? My parents just retired from dairy farming. I still work on another farm, part time and there is not an increase in abnormal births in cows. Geez…
what’s #1 on the list? the damn pin-it sign is covering it completely and i can’t get it to go away! i hate those social media things…
dale… i couldn’t have said it better myself! HAHAH nicely done!