General Mills announces that Cheerios to remove GMO ingredients

[Zana]

I got this today from LocalHarvest.org. Just wondering what others think of General Mills move. Personally I think it is too little too late and a sham. But that's just my humble opinion. If this is too political a topic, please feel free to remove the thread.





LocalHarvest.org
LocalHarvest Newsletter, January 25, 2014

Welcome back to the LocalHarvest newsletter.

Earlier this month, General Mills announced that Cheerios would no longer be made with genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. Anti-GMO activists were pleased, while defenders of Corporate Food insisted it was no big deal. General Mills did have a relatively easy job of it; the only GMO ingredients in its original Cheerios were a little cornstarch and sugar which were readily replaced by non-GMO sources. Unfortunately, General Mills is not removing the GMO ingredients from its myriad other products so there is no reason to think that the company is concerned about the widespread use of GMOs. To the contrary, General Mills owns organic brands Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen which made campaign contributions that helped defeat the GMO labelling initiative in the State of Washington last November. Given all this, some people have suggested that the change with Cheerios was just a PR ploy. Maybe it was. Certainly General Mills knew that the move would appeal to many parents who feed Cheerios to their toddlers. Whatever the motivation, Cheerios going non-GMO is a very small gesture on the part of a very big food conglomerate.

So, does it matter? We at LocalHarvest think it matters deeply over the long run.

Most people in this country find themselves in the cereal aisle at least once a week. Most of those shoppers would probably not go out of their way to find a GMO-free cereal, but given that polls show that the vast majority of Americans want access to GMO-free food, we have to assume that many of them will be glad to have a convenient option. The change with Cheerios is important because it gives everyone a chance to easily and knowingly choose a product that is free of GMOs. What begins with Cheerios may very well carry over to other GMO-free products. Sometimes peoples' buying patterns actual strengthen their beliefs, which then deepen their commitment to their buying patterns. Anyone who buys organic food has probably experienced this; I know I did. I started buying organic vegetables and fruits out of concern about pesticides. Gradually, organic became a higher priority and I started investing in organic meat. Then I switched to organic milk and yogurt. I'm still working on cheese and get organic grains or beans when I can.

We start with something easy and eventually realize that the issue has become more important to us. We put effort into it. This is one way to create change. One choice leads to another, leads to another, and to a strengthened conviction over time.

Moving toward a GMO-free food system will take a lot more than Cheerios. But if a few million people get in the habit of buying this one GMO-free product, they may begin looking for others. If they do, America's food manufacturers will respond. What sells gets produced. Meanwhile, if even a couple of million of those people started making a little noise for GMO labelling, it will only be a matter of time before a labelling law gets passed in a populous state, and that could be the tipping point for labelling laws across the nation.

Genetically modified ingredients have infiltrated nearly every corner of the food system with very little public debate about the risks and possible benefits. It is that public discussion, along with the kind of labelling laws already in place in Europe and elsewhere, that we at LocalHarvest feel are vital. GMO-free Cheerios may play a role in furthering those causes...even if that wasn't General Mills' intent.

Until next time, take good care and eat well,
Erin

Erin Barnett
Director
LocalHarvest

[Ken4230]

Even if it is not a genuine altruistic act by GM, but the slick PR move that i suspect it to be, it is an improvement to one of the better cereals that is eaten by a great amount of young children.
I have to give them some credit for this small step in the right direction.

I used to eat Kashi cereal, until Kelloggs bought them and altered their formula. Now they are no better than Fruit Loops or Sugar Smacks and i am still searching for a healthy cereal.
I've been making my own by using bran and bran flakes, and adding blueberries, almond chips and other supposedly healthy stuff.

I'm not very enthused about the organic movement any longer, I think that it has morphed into a scam also. If it comes packaged, we have a good chance of being lied to about the purity of the contents.
Recently when i dropped off a deer to be processed, i tried to buy a whole hog from the butcher that i have been buying from for 50 years. Regulations no longer allow him to butcher and sell whole hogs.

Buy from a neighbor that you trust or grow your own is what i have started doing.

[kayrobbins]

It is only the basic Cheerios that is being changed. Their others like Honey Nut Cheerios will still be GMO. It may be a small step but at least it is a start. If we refuse to buy GMO products companies will change. I agree with Ken4230, we really do need to grow as much as we can, buy local and cook our own real food.

[NathanP]

Originally Posted by kayrobbins

It is only the basic Cheerios that is being changed. Their others like Honey Nut Cheerios will still be GMO. It may be a small step but at least it is a start. If we refuse to buy GMO products companies will change. I agree with Ken4230, we really do need to grow as much as we can, buy local and cook our own real food.

I agree. If we look at the example of what has happened with RGBH and milk, enough consumer pressure was put on dairy farms and milk companies that they voluntarily stopped using it. The same can happen with transgenic GMO's. That is what the GMO chemical companies are afraid of with labeling.

While General Mills is only doing it with the original Cheerios (the easiest to do it with, since they only need to change to non-GMO with two ingredients, corn starch and sugar). We do not know the % of corn starch, but sugar makes up 3.6% of the product. Chances are corn start + sugar is under 10%, so their cost to find non-GMO replacement sources is both easier and cheaper than with their other products that may contain much larger percentages of corn, soy or sugar. But it is a start and they are wisely making the effort with the easiest product for them to do this with.



If they really care deeply about what the consumers think, they will continue this and push their suppliers to locate non-GMO corn, wheat, sugar, etc for their other products.

[Irv Wiseguy]

I think it's mostly a gimmick to increase sales. If they put NO GMO in big letters on the box, cereal shoppers might buy Cheerios thinking it's healthier than the others.

The closest thing I have to cereal these days is oatmeal.

Irv

[ExpendableZero]

What worries me more than domestic GMOs is the food from china that is being pushed on us. The local grocery stores seem to be stocking more and more of the stuff every week. I discovered nine items that I purchase regularly now say "product of china" on their label in very tiny black print on a dark color. I had to throw them out. Everything I have read indicates that there is very little regulation and almost none of it is inspected on a regular basis.

[NathanP]

Originally Posted by ExpendableZero

What worries me more than domestic GMOs is the food from china that is being pushed on us. The local grocery stores seem to be stocking more and more of the stuff every week. I discovered nine items that I purchase regularly now say "product of china" on their label in very tiny black print on a dark color. I had to throw them out. Everything I have read indicates that there is very little regulation and almost none of it is inspected on a regular basis.

Oh, absolutely, that's very worrisome to me. I won't buy ANY food from China, organic or otherwise. You can't trust anything produced there to be what it claims. Those organic food producers doing this need to rethink this one.

I worry equally about both that and GMO containing products.

I think it's mostly a gimmick to increase sales. If they put NO GMO in big letters on the box, cereal shoppers might buy Cheerios thinking it's healthier than the others.

The closest thing I have to cereal these days is oatmeal.

It is absolutely a gimmick to increase sales. But that's a good thing, because if it DOES increase sales, it will move them and others to do this to more products. We are fortunate at this point that oats are one crop that has not been genetically modified. Hopefully that will stay that way.

[Worth1]

I think people need to worry more about cereal (Garbage In a Box) and its basic content than they do GMO's that may or may not be in it.

A boiled egg an 8 oz glass of low sodium V8 cocktail juice and an apple or banana would be a far better diet for anyone.

This is what I have much of the time where I work.

If you dont want your kid to scream for sugar then dont get them hooked on it to begin with.

Worth

[ScottinAtlanta]

The market works after all. Consumers will decide what is offered and what is not.

Just to clarify Zana's opening post: European regulations require that all food including processed food or feed which contains greater than 0.9% of approved GMOs must be labelled. Europe is not a GMO-free zone.

[ExpendableZero]

It's not just the cheap stuff anymore either:

http://i.imgur.com/69dZzTC.jpg

[Irv Wiseguy]

I make it a point to only buy made in USA food and treats for my dogs; didn't realize made in China is spreading to human food too. Now I'll have to start scouring the packages for the origin labels when we go grocery shopping.

Irv

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Irv Wiseguy

I make it a point to only buy made in USA food and treats for my dogs; didn't realize made in China is spreading to human food too. Now I'll have to start scouring the packages for the origin labels when we go grocery shopping.

Irv

This has been going on for years, try to find out where your garlic comes from.
I cant wait for Chinese milk and cheese to show up on the shelves.


Worth

[NathanP]

70% of apple juice and products made from apple juice concentrate is sourced from China. That includes organic apple juice made from concentrate. I contacted Eden Organic about 2 years ago to express my displeasure with their moved to source from China. Their response was they have the same safety check procedures in place whether there or in the US or elsewhere. I said, thank you very much, I will buy from another company. You have lost this customer. I make sure everyone who purchases

[NathanP]

Oh, and this is tremendously disturbing:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/201...e-hard-to-know

Step one to open the door: Chicken raised in the US gets shipped to China for processing, then back to the US for sale

Step two: Chicken raised in China, processed in China gets shipped to the US for sale, with the USDA's stamp on it and no inspections. Yeah... that sounds safe

This is disturbing from all sorts of perspectives. Safety of the food supply, care of the chickens, what gets put into the chickens, how they are raised. This is not progress.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Worth1

(Garbage In a Box)

Cereal, chips, and soda are hugely profitable, which is why each of them are worthy of an entire aisle in the grocery store despite being almost entirely junk.

The profitability of that junk food is also what keeps it included in food stamp eligibility. There's almost 50 million Americans on Food Stamps, and now they are cutting the funding because they're out of money. If we just cut the junk food out of food stamp eligibility, the money would go farther and people would end up healthier. But I would rate the odds of that actually happening similar to that of pigs flying.