GMO victory? General Mills says Cheerios are non-GMO, but they’re made from oats in the first place
General Mills has now publicly announced that original Cheerios cereal is non-GMO. This announcement, in which General Mills also falsely claims that genetically modified ingredients are “safe” — as if this had been proven or something — is available here.
But Cheerios cereal is made from oats, and there's no such thing as commercially-produced genetically modified oats. So proclaiming that original Cheerios is non-GMO is not especially meaningful. It's like an aloe vera juice company claiming its aloe vera juice is non-GMO. To their credit, General Mills explains they did change their sources for a very tiny ingredient in the cereal: corn starch.
“…we were able to change how we source and handle ingredients to ensure that the corn starch for original Cheerios comes only from non-GMO corn,” explains General Mills.
This doesn't seem so amazing, especially in light of the fact that General Mills continues to claim, entirely without any reasonable proof, that GMOs are 100% safe to consume and carry absolutely no risk whatsoever. (This is the definition of “safe.”) Furthermore, General Mills explains on its website that it has no intention of making all its other Cheerios products (there are over a dozen) non-GMO, claiming that such a move is “difficult, if not impossible.” Really? Then how does Nature's Path make all their cereals non-GMO if such a thing is “impossible?”
A victory?
GMOinside.org is suggesting this is a victory against GMOs. John Roulac, founder of Nutiva and one of my favorite people in the natural products industry, explains:
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Source: http://www.riseearth.com/2014/01/gmo-victory-general-mills-says-cheerios.html
