Updated Testing Protocol from General Mills for Labeled Gluten-Free Cheerios

General Mills uses standard oats that have been mechanically and optically sorted to remove wheat, barley, and rye in their labeled gluten-free Cheerios.

Finished product testing

(As reported to Gluten Free Watchdog and confirmed October 12, 2018)

General Mills is producing gluten-free Cheerios using what they term “validated gluten-free flour.”

General Mills determines gluten-free status of a “lot” of oat flour via a lot mean.

Further, General Mills determines gluten-free status of a “lot” of gluten-free Cheerios via a lot mean.
In both […]

Oats and the Gluten-Free Diet: Q&A Part 2

Two weeks ago I posted on social media asking you to send me your questions on oats—anything that was on your mind. I did this because the situation with oats and the gluten-free diet is one of the most complicated issues I write about–something I’ve been doing for about 21 years.

Because you sent in so many questions, they are being answered in groups. This is the second Q&A post on oats. Some of your questions may have been slightly […]

Oats and the Gluten-Free Diet: Q&A Part 1

Last week I posted on social media asking you to send me your questions on oats—anything that was on your mind because as I stated, “The situation with oats and the gluten-free diet is one of the most complicated issues I write about–something I’ve been doing for about 15 years.”

I’ve actually been writing about oats for so long that I forgot just how long. My first article on oats was published in the scientific literature in 1997—21 years ago […]

It isn’t just oats that have gluten cross contact issues

We’ve known for well over a decade that standard oats are highly likely to arrive at a mill from the farm containing errant wheat, barley, and rye grain. But we also have a problem with errant gluten-containing grain showing up in other naturally gluten-free grains, seeds, and legumes, including millet grain and dried lentils.

This is happening in products labeled “gluten-free” as well as those labeled “certified gluten-free.” And it doesn’t matter if the food manufacturing plant is dedicated gluten-free. […]

General Mills removing gluten-free claim from Cheerios in Canada: Implications for US market?

As many of you have heard General Mills is removing the gluten-free claim from Cheerios sold in Canada. Gluten Free Watchdog reached out to General Mills to learn more about this decision and how it might impact Cheerios sold in the US. In particular, we asked about testing protocols and any changes to these protocols. These questions are motivated by our knowledge that an AOAC working group on gluten in oats was established because “Standards and methods are needed […]

Quaker researchers publish a second study highlighting the difficulties associated with testing oats for gluten contamination

Note: This is one of two companion articles published today on oats. An updated position statement on oats from Gluten Free Watchdog will be published in the near future.

PepsiCo scientists recently published a second article in the scientific peer-reviewed literature on the difficulties associated with testing oats for gluten contamination. This article entitled “Kernel-based gluten contamination of gluten-free oatmeal complicates gluten assessment as it causes binary-like test outcomes” compliments their first article entitled, “Gluten-containing grains skew gluten assessment in […]