General Mills Cereals

General Mills gave a presentation at the Baltimore FAN conference in April. My impression is they are among the more allergy aware companies. If there is a risk of cross contamination, they use the "may contain" label. The common allergens are presented in bold typeface so they stand out. They also have a seperate allergen section at the end of label. General Mills also appears to be very allergy aware regarding outside suppliers.

I personally feel very comfortable using Hershey's cocoa. I spoke with Hershey's on 7/6. They said their policy is as follows:

1. If there is any PN then it is labeled.
2. If a product is made on a shared line, then it is labeled with "may contain"

The overall impression I got is that they are well aware of food allergies and cross contamination.

As far as cocoa, Hershey's said that it is made in the same plant as peanuts (they use tarps to minimize the risk of cross-contamination). However, it is produced in a different area of the plant and early in the manufacturing process. Personally, that passes my risk tolerance test. Note that Hershey's chocolate syrup is also made in a seperate area.

Hi,

I've been giving my PA 4-yr. old daughter Cocoa Puffs right along with no problem, as with most of the General Mills Product line. She eats Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Golden Grahams, Kix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and regular Cheerios. I stay away from Honey Nut Cheerios, Frosted Cheerios, Team Cheerios, and the Multi-Grain Cheerios, as these have "nuts" listed in their ingredients.

In the Post Cereal Line, she eats Frosted Shredded Wheat. I always check the ingredients every time I buy any product in case they add some new warning or something.

I hope this adds some variety to your son's breakfast!

[img]http://client.ibboards.com/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

In the recent FAN newlater, it mentions that General Mills' BooBerry and Count Chocula cereals are now labeled contains peanut ingred. because they are packaged on equip. that is used to package products containing peanut ingredients.

My daughter eats cherrios and kiks all the time with no problem. As Steve mentioned, General Mills is a very food allergy aware and educated company.