General Mills recalls 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios

The company said yesterday that its voluntarily recalling 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios products made at its facility in Lodi, California. The boxes are being recalled after an incident allowed wheat flour to enter its gluten-free oat-based system.

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A General Mills spokeswoman said consumers have reported illnesses online and at least two official illness complaints have been reported directly to General Mills as a result of the affected products.

The company is asking customers to check the ‘better if used by’ code dates on Honey Nut Cheerios boxes for July 12-25, 2016. Plant code ‘LD’ would also be denoted at the end of the listing. 

For boxes of original Cheerios, the dates are July 14-17, 2016, and the code would appear as follows: 

14JUL2016 LD

15JUL2016 LD

16JUL2016 LD

17JUL2016 LD

General Mills, which is transitioning five varieties of Cheerios to gluten-free, said other cereals and products produced at other facilities have not been affected.

Cheerios officially released this statement:

‘We want to reassure you that this was an isolated incident and we have implemented a solution to ensure that this will not happen again. We’ll also continue to test products and our oat flour supply to ensure our products meet the gluten-free standard. We care about what you and your family eat and we are truly sorry for this mistake. We will work extremely hard to earn back your trust.’

Customers who want refunds or have questions should call General Mills consumer services at 800-775-8370.

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