Sad About Cheerios

A Cheerios ad popped up on my Facebook page and, of course, I read the comments.  Every single Celiac on that feed reported problems when eating Cheerios.

Cheerios has a great website where they explain the process of removing gluten from the oats before making the cereal. It's a great process, but obviously, by the amount of reported reactions, it doesn't work.

I suggested they find oats from dedicated fields if they want to put the words Gluten Free on their boxes, but at the amount of Cheerios they sell, that might not be cost effective. When I read that bit about 20 ppm is okay, i cringe. Okay for who? Who made up that number and decided it was a good limit?

Too bad, I used to like Cheerios. And Raisin Bran, Life Cereal, and Pop Tarts. Oh! Pita Bread!


I've been diagnosed since 2003 and I've seen a lot of new products pop up over the years. Being gluten free in 2003 was a lot different than it is now. Back then I had to have my health food store order gluten free products for me. Now I can pick them up at my local grocery. It's a different gluten free world so I believe there will be gluten free pita bread someday. I'm waiting....

Gluten Free Cheerios ~ YUM!

I was skeptical. I get very sick on gluten and it can put me down for 3 days. It's horrible and I do anything to avoid it. So when I heard about Gluten Free Cheerios I had mixed feelings. Could it be true??? Could I trust it?

If you go to the Cheerios website, you'll see detailed videos about how they make Cheerios gluten free. They test to keep it under 20 ppm as according to the FDA.
It was interesting but I still wasn't sold. So I turned to the Celiac community for insight.

Gluten Free Watchdog  wasn't too keen on the safety of Gluten Free Cheerios.

Gluten Dude was a little more forthcoming but not exactly positive.

So I reached out to a friend from Sea Shore Celiacs, a support group in my area. One member, a very sensitive Celiac, did a Cheerio Challenge. She ate 3 Cheerios one day, a few more the next, and built up to a whole bowl without getting sick. Then my daughter tried a bowl and was fine.

I've had them for dinner for the past two nights and I'm feeling fine, too.

Like any processed food we try, there is always a chance of the labeling not being exactly honest or the fact that 20 ppm is way too much for Celiacs. How do we know for sure?

eh, I'm eating my Cheerios!