General Mills issues massive Cheerios recall!

General Mills recalling 1.8M Cheerios boxes due to wheat contamination

Cheerios recalled due to wheat contamination. 

The recall affects Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios that were made in July. The Minneapolis company said Monday wheat flour was inadvertently used in a gluten-free oat flour system. The use of wheat flour means the cereals are not gluten-free, and people with conditions like wheat allergies or celiac disease who consume them might suffer an allergic reaction or discomfort.

The cereal boxes have the plant code "LD." The Cheerios have "better if used by" dates from July 14 to July 17, 2016 and the Honey Nut Cheerios have "better if used by" dates of July 12 to 25, 2016.

The recall comes shortly after General Mills launched gluten-free Cheerios. Earlier this year the company said it found a way to remove small amounts of wheat, rye and barley that are unintentionally added to oat supplies when the oats are being grown or transported. It started shipping gluten-free Cheerios in five flavors in July.

JPMorgan Chase analyst Ken Goldman said the recall affects about 1 percent of the Cheerios the company makes in a year, and it might make customers leery of trusting that the new Cheerios are really gluten-free.

"Our biggest concern is over reputational risk, because the new gluten-free Cheerios just launched," Goldman said.

General Mills Inc. said it will take the cereals out of warehouses and off store shelves, and says customers who cannot eat wheat should contact the company for a replacement box or a full refund. General Mills says it is not recalling cereals that were made at other plants or made on different dates.

The affected boxes of cereal were produced over several days at a production facility in Lodi, Calif., and were shipped nationwide, according to Kirstie Foster, General Mills director of corporate and brand communications.

"Our Lodi production facility lost rail service for a time and our gluten-free oat flour was being off-loaded from rail cars to trucks for delivery to our facility on the dates in question," said Jim Murphy, president of the General Mills cereal division, in a statement. "In an isolated incident involving purely human error, wheat flour was inadvertently introduced into our gluten-free oat flour system at Lodi."

General Mills is in the process of transitioning five of its cereal varieties to gluten-free oat flour. 

Shares of General Mills have risen 13 percent over the last year and closed at $57.22 on Monday. The stock fell 18 cents to $57.04 in after-hours trading.

Source: Yahoo news, USA Today, LA Times October 5, 2015