Cheerios Goes Non GMO




In a move that has opponents to GMs in food cheering, General Mills has announced that their iconic cereal, Cheerios, has gone non-GMO. While Cheerios in Europe have never had GM beet sugar added, those in N. America have. The switch back to pure cane sugar marks a triumph for consumers wishing to eliminate or reduce genetically altered sources of food.


"This is a big deal," says Todd Larsen, corporate responsibility director at Green America, a green economy activist group. "Cheerios is an iconic brand and one of the leading breakfast cereals in the U.S." What's more, he adds, "We don't know of any other example of such a major brand of packaged food, eaten by so many Americans, going from being GMO to non-GMO." GM Watch


This is an example of the consumers’ power to influence. While there is no direct proof that GM organisms are harmful to health, there is also no proof that they are safe to consume. Because foods, particularly processed foods, are not labelled as containing genetically altered ingredients people are unaware of their consumption. 

Other food providers have joined in the move away from including genetically altered ingredients in their offerings. Whole Foods is phasing out GMs by 2018. Chipotle and Kashi have announced plans to phase out GMs as well.

General Mills switch to cane sugar in Cheerios is welcome news as a new study looking at GM soybeans Compositional differences in soybeans on the market: glyphosate accumulates in Roundup Ready GM soybeans 
has found glyphosate residues(herbicide) remained in studied soybeans grown in Iowa. As well their research has found that organically grown soybeans had higher nutritional values.

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