[Ngo-sanrm] Wall Street Journal: Cheerios Without GMOs (text included)

Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group ngo-sanrm at ngocentre.org.vn
Sat Jan 4 03:49:26 GMT 2014


It is rather significant that this story is getting major coverage in the
U.S.  The move to make Cheerios cereal without GMOs will make it harder for
other brands to resist labeling, and increase the pressure for them to
eliminate GMOs from their food products.

CHUCK SEARCY

*Link and full text copied below.*

*Wall Street Journal* <http://splashurl.com/kba9rzl>
General Mills Starts Making Some Cheerios Without GMOs
  By Annie Gasparro
connect<http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303370904579297211874270146#>
 Updated Jan. 2, 2014 9:16 p.m. ET

      *General Mills expects the GMO-free Cheerios to be available to
consumers "shortly." Shown, Cheerios in a supermarket. Bloomberg*

*General Mills <http://quotes.wsj.com/GIS> Inc. GIS -0.28%
<http://quotes.wsj.com/GIS> has started producing Cheerios free of
genetically modified content, making the 73-year-old breakfast cereal one
of the highest-profile brands to change in the face of growing complaints
over such ingredients from activist groups and some consumers.*

The change—which only affects original Cheerios, not other varieties like
Honey Nut Cheerios—has been in the works since about a year ago, when
General Mills began working to change manufacturing for Cheerios to
eliminate ingredients containing genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

The company started manufacturing the GMO-free cereal several weeks ago,
and expects it to be available to consumers "shortly," once the products
have made their way through the distribution system and onto shelves. The
Cheerios will carry the label "Not Made With Genetically Modified
Ingredients," though the company notes that they could contain trace
amounts due to contamination in shipping or manufacturing.
  Related

   - * GMO-Free Cheerios: What It All Means
   <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303640604579297402878493762>
   *

  Critics of GMO use in foods called attention to the Cheerios move
Thursday, hailing it as a major victory. Advocacy groups have raised
concerns about possible health problems from eating foods with GMOs, which
are crops like corn grown from seeds genetically engineered for desirable
traits like pest resistance. The groups have promoted consumer campaigns in
some states to mandate labeling of GMOs in food, and targeted specific
brands—including Cheerios—and to change their policies.

Most big food companies have rebuffed such efforts, arguing that there is
no evidence of any health problems resulting from GMOs despite decades of
use. The food companies also generally have refused voluntarily labeling,
saying it is costly and will give consumers a misconception that GMOs are
harmful.

"There is broad consensus that food containing GMOs is safe, but we decided
to move forward with this in response to consumer demand," said Mike
Siemienas, spokesman for General Mills.

The Minneapolis-based company said it chose Cheerios because the primary
ingredient is oats, a crop that isn't grown from genetically modified
seeds, so the transition just required it to find new sources of cornstarch
and sugar.

"Even that required significant investment," Mr. Siemienas said. He didn't
provide a figure, but said that the hurdles would make it "difficult, if
not impossible" to make Honey Nut Cheerios and other varieties without GMOs.

GMO Inside, a campaign that advocates GMO labeling, said Cheerios is the
first major brand of packaged food in the U.S. to make the switch from
containing GMOs to marketing itself as non-GMO. Some foreign countries have
restricted GMO use in food for years.

Other companies have also said they plan to change. Whole Foods Market Inc.
said it will require by 2018 that all food in its stores containing GMOs,
disclose the fact on labels. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Kellogg Co.'s
Kashi, which markets its cereals and snacks as having "natural
ingredients," have both said they are working on taking GMOs out of their
food.

But it is a lengthy and expensive process. Kashi says only 1% of U.S.
cropland is organic and around 70% of packaged foods contain GMOs.

*Write to * Annie Gasparro at annie.gasparro at wsj.com


*====================================*


*CHUCK SEARCY International Advisor, Project RENEW*







*Vice President, Veterans for Peace Chapter 160 (Hoa Binh) 71 Tran Quoc
Toan, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel:           +844 6684 2622  Mobile:     +849 0342
0769  Skype:       chucksearcy Email:        chuckusvn at gmail.com
<chucksearcy at yahoo.com> Web:         www.landmines.org.vn
<http://www.landmines.org.vn> *

*Web:         www.veteransforpeace.org <http://www.veteransforpeace.org>*

*Web:         vfp-vn.ning.com <http://vfp-vn.ning.com/>*


*Blog:         chucksearcy
<http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1159007311032373013#allposts>
<chucksearcy at yahoo.com>=====================================*
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