Do You Have Questions About the New Gluten-Free Cheerios?

Let's ask General Mills ALL of our gluten-free Cheerios questions.
See below!

If you read any gluten-free blogs or follow them on Facebook or Twitter, there is a good chance you have seen someone post about the new gluten-free Cheerios. Over the summer, General Mills announced their Cheerios are now gluten-free. You can read all about how General Mills made Cheerios gluten-free here. They also put up a blog post at the beginning of July that highlights the process.

As you know from reading my blog, I cannot tolerate oats even if certified gluten-free. I am one of those people with celiac that still has a severe reaction to oats. For three decades, my doctors told me to avoid oats altogether and I did. Once I introduced them into my diet, the brain fog set in. I decided I went without oats for so long that I didn't need them and cut them out immediately. Some celiacs react to the protein avenin found in oats and it looks like I am one of those people.

While I never planned on eating the new Cheerios, I know so many people who were excited about the opportunity to eat their favorite childhood cereal again. The excitement plus some of the controversy is why I starting following this story closely. Controvery?? Yes, there is a bit of a debate going on in the celiac and gluten-free community about how these Cheerios are produced and if they are causing a reaction or not. The customers seemed divided. Feedback is both good and bad. There are haters and lovers as with most stories in the celiac community.

Please read some of the links below to get a sense of how the community feels about Cheerios.

Gluten-Free Watchdog
Gluten-Free Cheerios: Updated Position Statement
Gluten-Free Cheerios: Take Three
Gluten-Free Cheerios: Take Two

I'm A Celiac
Having trouble with the Gluten Free Cheerios?
Why Eating a Bowl of Cheerios Makes You Feel Normal Again
Gluten Free Honey Nut Cheerios Are Here

Hunter's Lyonesse
Pissing in the Gluten-Free Cheerios
Effecting Change

Gluten-Free Homemaker
Gluten-Free Cheerios: Safe or Not?

Gluten Freeville
Newly “Gluten Free” Cheerios – To try or not to try?

Two Celiacs and a Baby
The Gluten Free Cheerios Saga – Part One

Gluten-Free Baking
Review: Gluten-Free Honey Nut Cheerios

Change.org
Change testing and production of gluten-free Cheerios to be safe for all.

I have the opportunity to speak directly with a representative of General Mills and Cheerios on Tuesday. I need your help. I want to ask ALL of your questions!! You can either post them in the comments section below or email me directly at gfreefun@gmail.com. I will do my best to ask everything and give you a full report of my conversation. I believe in transparency so I am encouraged by this opportunity to speak directly with the company. I want to address all of your concerns, share your feedback, and get some answers. Please send me your comments and questions as soon as possible! 

My Take on (Gluten-Free) Oats

I do not eat oats. 

I do not eat gluten-free oats. 

This is my personal decision, one that does not make me right or wrong. 

I have been living with Celiac Disease for almost 33 years. For 32 of those 33 years, I have always avoided oats. I was always told by my gastrointerologist to avoid oats. I was told at an early age through my support group to avoid oats. After hearing something is off limits for three decades, you tend to believe that oats are not safe for someone living with Celiac Disease.

The idea of "gluten-free oats" is a rather new one. I believe it has only been in the last ten years or so that gluten-free oats has even entered into the picture for Celiac patients. I was intrigued but skeptical about introducing oats into my diet. Oats are questionable mainly due to the high risk of cross-contamination in production and transport. It is also believed that 10-15% of people living with Celiac also react to oats.

Well, I am in that minority. I have a reaction to gluten-free oats. I had severe brain fog last summer when I started eating gluten-free oatmeal for breakfast. I had a reaction to both Crunchmaster crackers and Dr. Lucy's cookies. I felt "glutened" every time I tried gluten-free oats or gluten-free oat products and do not plan to intentionally eat oats in the future.

It is my personal decision to not eat gluten-free oats. The biggest problem I have with this decision is the nasty reactions I receive when I tell people I choose not to eat oats. At the GFAF Expo in NJ in September, I had a vendor flat out stop talking to me when I told her I didn't eat oats and couldn't eat her cupcakes. I had an Udi's demo guy tell me at Natural Foods Expo East that my reaction to oats was all in my head and I should eat their granola. I've had PR people email me and tell me that I was wrong and all gluten-free oats are safe for everyone and I MUST try their products. I've read through full-on Facebook fights in support groups that I belong to that result in people attacking strangers when they say they have a reaction to oats.

WHAT??? It is my choice to not eat gluten-free oats, people. It is my body and my reactions. Who are you to tell me otherwise?!?! What gives you the right to dictate my diet? 

Ok, I'm done yelling but I really have a big problem with other people telling me what to eat or not. This is gluten-free world is complicated enough to navigate at times and having people tell me I am wrong about what I eat is just plain aggravating. Please remember that my celiac is not your celiac and I have been eating gluten-free for a VERY long time... probably longer than you have even been alive let alone diagnosed. Let me choose to not eat gluten-free oats and let me be right about my decision. Thank you!

Now, for more information about oats and the Celiac patient that will guide you in making your own personal decision:

Oats and the Gluten-Free Diet
Are Oats OK on the Gluten-Free Diet?
What about oats?
Gluten-Free Whole Grains

A Response to Crunchmaster Crackers and Confusion

My first post today was an honest look at Crunchmaster Crackers and a confusing website. Within 2 hours of my blog post going live, I received a response from the Director of Marketing from TH Foods, Inc., the parent company of Crunchmaster.

Erin,

A concerned supporter sent me your blog on our Crunchmaster crackers this morning. I tried commenting on your blog, but for some reason it would not accept my response.

Thank you for your honest feedback on our Crunchmaster products. We are glad that you enjoyed them and appreciate you bringing our attention to the conflicting information on our website. After the introduction of our new Crunchmaster multi-grain line last year, we should have noticed that this caused conflicting information to appear. We will work to correct it as soon as possible.

If you have any future questions, please feel free to contact me directly. If I can not answer it, I will have our Regulatory Manager follow up with you.

Best Regards,

Jim Garsow
Director of Marketing
TH Foods, Inc.

I do applaud TH Foods, Inc. for being responsive to my post but still stand by my original post. Hopefully TH Foods, Inc. and Crunchmaster will accurately address the issues that I brought up in my post Crunchmaster Crackers and Confusion.

Crunchmaster Crackers and Confusion

I have blogged about Crunchmaster Crackers before*, but truth be told, I never tried them until last month when I was sent free samples by the company.

The Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers come in three flavors and I was sent the White Cheddar as a sample. I did try eat some of these crackers even though "oat fiber" is an ingredient. These White Cheddar Multi-grain crackers and all Crunchmaster products are certified gluten-free, but I usually make it a habit of not eating oats at all. In all honesty, I didn't actually notice this "oat fiber" ingredient until after I already ate a few crackers. This was careless on my part since I usually obsess over ingredients before trying anything new. The website and the packaging all said "Certified Gluten-Free" and I took their word on it. I hoped for the best but expected the worst, luckily I had no noticeable oat-based reaction.

Even though these crackers tasted good, I will not buy them again due to this ingredient. Please note, my choice to not eat oats is a personal preference after more than thirty years of never eating oats. Many people have no problem whatsoever with "gluten-free oats" but I choose not to eat them. This is not a reflection on Crunchmaster products, but again is my personal choice. I have lived without oats my entire life and don't feel that I am missing anything by not eating gluten-free oats. My PR contact for Crunchmaster did check with the parent company and said "that they use a certified gluten free oat fiber that is a bit more expensive, but worth it to Crunchmaster as it adds more fiber and nutrition to their products." More expensive doesn't put me at ease, but at least they are using a certified oat fiber in their product.

What I did find really interesting about this oat question was the confusing information on the Crunchmaster website. On the "Go Gluten Free" page, the very first sentence says "Gluten is a natural protein that is found in wheat, barley, rye and oats." But on the "Grown For You" page, the middle paragraph says "Several studies have shown that amaranth seed, like oats, may be of benefit for those with hypertension and cardiovascular disease." To someone new to the gluten-free diet, this could be really confusing especially if their doctor told them to avoid oats. I think Crunchmaster should address the "oat issue" on their website and be really open and honest about their use of gluten-free oats.

On the flip side, Crunchmaster does address the question of certification on their FAQ page. They state "All Crunchmaster products are Certified Gluten Free by the Gluten Free Certification Organization. GFCO standards are met through a rigorous process of third-party audits and frequent product and ingredient testing at the manufacturing facility. The GFCO sets strict standards that finished products may not contain more than 10 ppm gluten, twice as strict as the proposed FDA and Codex definitions for gluten free. Every production run of our Crunchmaster products are tested prior to shipment for added assurance that they meet our high standards."

Quite honestly, I don't like to be so confused when trying to get information about the products I am eating. From a non-oat eating point of view, I think Crunchmaster could improve their FAQ section by specifically addressing gluten-free oats vs regular oats. Then again, this is one of those controversial topics in the gluten-free community so it might have been a business decision to specifically not address the nature of the oats. Again, as a life-long Celiac this is something I want to pay attention to in ALL of the products I eat.

I also was sent a box of 7 Ancient Grains Hint of Sea Salt crackers. These were good and I felt much more at ease eating these crackers because the ingredients were much more simple and had no oats. The ingredients are "brown rice flour, potato starch, safflower oil, sorghum flour, quinoa seeds, sesame seeds, millet, flax seeds, amaranth seeds, and sea salt." They are all easily identifiable gluten-free seeds and grains. I ate these plain but could see these pairing really well with both cheeses and dips. I would buy these again and could see myself serving these at a party to all of my gluten-eating and non-gluten-eating friends. They are definitely one of those cross-population types of snacks.

Overall, although the Crunchmaster crackers were good the confusion about the oats left me less than impressed. I do understand these crackers are widely popular with the gluten-free community and are even advertised on the NFCA website but I will probably choose to stay away until some of the website and possibly packaging verbiage is clarified.

* As a new rule here at Gluten-Free Fun, I will only blog about products and recipes that I have actually personally tried and consumed. I recently learned that some gluten-free bloggers never even taste the recipes they are posting or the products they are "reviewing". This baffles me so much. How can you give honest opinions when you don't taste your own food? Going forward ALL of my reviews and recipes will cross my gluten-free lips before being posted to this site. I want to remain an honest and integrity-driven blog and in no way want to deceive my readers or even worse, post an untruthful review. Thank you.