Consumers Demand, and General Mills Listens: Cheerios are Now GMO-Free!

Good news, kids (of all ages): a breakfast staple has, at long last, gone GMO-free!

General Mills announced yesterday that Cheerios – a decades-long top-selling cereal – will no longer use GMO corn or cane sugar in its original-flavor Cheerios.

The changes come a little over a year after GMO Inside.org began to call on consumers to “put pressure on General Mills to make Cheerios without GMOs due to concerns over the health and environmental impacts of GMOs,” a statement from GMO Inside explains.

Some 40,000 Facebook posts of concerned comments on Cheerios’ page, videos, anti-GMO apps, and more than 25,000 email actions and calls to the company later, General Mills began to make moves, and, now, the famous yellow box many of us grew up eating from will be GMO-free!

“This is a huge victory for the non-GMO movement. I want to thank all the “GMO Insiders for using social media to convince America’s largest packed food brand to go non-GMO with a major product,” said John W Roulac, GMO Inside co-founder and co-chair. “History is being made today and more food brands will rush towards non-GMO foods. ”

If you’re a Cheerios-lover and are worried about the taste, however, the Cheerios web site explains that the formula hasn’t changed; instead, it’s an altering in the sourcing of grains and plant choices: “But Cheerios remains the same great-tasting, wholesomely good cereal that’s been a family favorite for years.”

Now, the big question is: will even more General Mills products be made non-GMO?

Unfortunately, General Mills claims it’s not likely: “For our other cereals, the widespread use of GM seed in crops such as corn, soy, or beet sugar would make reliably moving to non-GM ingredients difficult, if not impossible.”

However, we here at One Green Planet feel that every victory, big and small, should be celebrated. While General Mills won’t be turning its entire line of cereals and other foods non-GMO at the moment, this is a step in the right direction. When a major corporation acknowledges the call of consumers and takes prompt action, we know we can and do have an impact. “Cheers” (yes, pun intended) to more great GMO news for the new year – and we look forward to other big moves in 2014!

Image Source: Michael Himbeault/Flickr