- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
peanut butter Cheerios = scandal
I seriously cannot understand being pissed off that a food company is making a new kind of food. The box is purple and white, and the Cheerios themselves even look different-- they don't look like regular Cheerios. https://www.cheerios.com/Products/Multi-Grain-Cheerios-Peanut-Butter
Just because some people are allergic, even deathly allergic, doesn't mean they should be pissed at General Mills for making peanut butter Cheerios.
********************************************************************************
New Peanut butter Cheerios triggers Anger from parents
Cheerios has just launched a new flavor ? peanut butter ? and the reaction in some homes has not been what the company might have expected.
?People are very upset about it,? said Gina Clowes, founder of Allergy Moms, a national support group.
?I know some allergy families that currently buy Cheerios are vowing not to buy them at all for fear of cross contact while processing and to avoid confusion in their own homes.?
It seems that although the new flavor?s box makes it clear that these are a new kind of Cheerios, the cereal itself is hard to distinguish from the original. Especially troubling to parents is that Cheerios are so often carted in baggies by toddlers ? toddlers who share them freely and will likely not know the difference.
?It has become the norm to have toddlers walking around with bags of cereal to snack on,? Clowes said. ?Toddlers are notoriously messy eaters. It [would] be difficult to distinguish this variety from ones that are ?safe? and one misplaced peanut butter Cheerio can cause a serious reaction.?
I called the Cheerios media relations staff and am awaiting a reply.
Many parents who do not have an allergy-suffering child might roll their eyes at the concern. But allergies can be terribly severe.
Just last week, a Virginia first-grader died after a friend shared a peanut with her on the playground.
A well-regarded national study published in the journal Pediatrics this past summer estimated that 8 percent of children ? that?s 5.9 million kids ? suffer from food allergies.
The report also found that close to 40 percent of those children suffer severe reactions.
Though it remains unclear why the food allergies have spread and intensified in recent years, any parent of an allergy-sufferer knows that weathering a child?s food sensitivities is frightening terrain.
Given the modern ubiquity of allergies, do manufacturers of children?s food have an extra responsibility to be sensitive to food allergies?
If so, how?
UPDATE: A spokeswoman from General Mills, the company that makes Cheerios, responded with the following statement:
?Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter contains PEANUTS. Cheerios has a commitment to allergen management. We can say with complete confidence that MultiGrain Peanut Butter Cheerios will not cross-contaminate other Cheerios varieties.
?Currently, Honey Nut Cheerios, Banana Nut Cheerios, and Oat Cluster Cheerios Crunch contain ALMOND. Only Multi Grain Cheerios Peanut Butter contains PEANUTS.
All other varieties, including original Cheerios, Multi Grain Cheerios, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Chocolate Cheerios, Cinnamon Burst Cheerios, Frosted Cheerios, Fruity Cheerios, and Yogurt Burst Cheerios, do not contain nuts.
As always, If you?re concerned about allergies, we highly recommend that you always consult the allergen listing and the ingredient label on any product you may consume.?
I asked the spokeswoman, Melissa Levy, further questions ? including whether General Mills had or would consider changing the appearances of the new Cheerios so that children might know the difference. She e-mailed a reply re-stating that the company ?employs the most stringent allergen control practices in the industry.?
I called Levy and left a voicemail asking her again about the issue of children?s perceptions. I am awaiting a reply and will update when I hear from her.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: peanut butter Cheerios = scandal
I know, I completely ignored the point of this story this morning and sat there wondering how delish these will be! lol
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
Heaven forbid a company would want to expand it's market.
I can see both sides of this issue. My kid has a severe allergy to peanuts and tree nuts, so on one hand it's scary.
On the other hand, a lot of generic products contain those allergens. One of the generic brands of Cheerios we bought contained "tree nut products" and we bought them and got them home before we realized it. Likewise, I've seen the same thing with a name brand pasta vs a generic pasta, name brand is fine, generic says it does/might contain the allergens. It means being very vigilant as a parent.
One thing I wish is that there was more education on the seriousness of allergies. I fear that people don't realize how common and how deadly some of these allergies can be for people. I grew up when kids would fake an allergy to a food they didn't like. My kid would literally die if he ate peanut butter and as a parent, I recognize I'm going to need help policing that when my LO goes out into the world.
https://www.cheerios.com/Products/banana-nut-cheerios
Have you ever walked down the cereal aisle at the store?
Education of whom? The general public? How would you suggest this be done? Attach it to voter registration?
Kids themselves are really educated on it because it's so common in schools, and they're used to seeing "peanut tables"and such. I have a feeling the up and coming generations will know a lot about it.
And I completely get that, you have to watch for your kids safety.
I has a question. Do you think its irresponsible for manufacturers to make products that contain allergens? And I ask this keeping in mind that kids do share foods so frequently and at that age there is no way for a child to undertstand that something they like can hurt someone else.
"We like nothing better than buffing our Zygoma. And imagining a horny time traveling long overcoat purple scarf wearing super sleuth nordic legend fuck fantasy. Get to work on that, internet." Benedict Cumberbatch
<a href
WTF? No. Adults eat "kids' food" all the time. Example: I love fruit snacks. And Cheerios's whole marketing campaign has been that it's heart healthy, which is targeted at adults. Their commercials show dads eating Cheerios with babies to show that both ages can eat them.
ILY, Heather, but I don't think that's what Kitara was saying at all. She was just saying sharing food in general, not just "kid's food".
Hell, at the Seattle GTG, there was a community broccoli floret making the rounds. Followed closely by community garlic bread. Kids share foods. All foods. Not just cheerios.
Kitara's right, though. Toddlers don't know that what they eat could potentially hurt another toddler.
I still think this PB Cheerios outrage is ridiculous and an overreaction.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
Right, I know. I'm saying that manufacturers shouldn't have to be allergen-free, and that you can't even argue that manufacturers of "kids' foods" are marketing only to kids and therefore have an added responsibility of being allergen-free if they market to kids. Make sense?
Well, I like to think I'm far from an idiot and am respectful of other children's food issues (fortunately, mine don't have any that we know of). I just think it's ridiculous that people would protest because their kid may accidentally get something to which they are allergic. For that matter, why not protest PB M&Ms? Kids eat both of those, too. It's just so out there that people are wanting the world to conform to their kid, rather than the other way around, that it's comical to me. This is beyond schools and daycares banning PB products, this is trying to have a PB product removed from the market for the benefit of a small portion of the population.
It's pretty clear that I was talking specifically about school-aged children.
As to this:
However, the bullshit_attitude that people have against moms who choose to speak out about not buying a particular (beloved, really) product because it's potentially life threatening to their child is irresponsible. And frankly, I'm surprised at the people who are mocking the article.
No one is mocking anything. No one is mocking the decision to not buy Cheerios. From the outset, I said that being angry at GM or boycotting out of anger is stupid. The company doesn't owe it to them to be peanut-free. No one here is being irresponsible or insensitive to your kid, Beanie. Except maybe banana-hater, but she's been pointed out. You're reaching.
Then you should have said this instead of comparing an allergy to a food you don't like. It was a dumb thing to say.
I'm very certain that the mom who doesn't like bananas was not aiming her comment at you or your kid, so save your fury and your internet bird-flippings.
I know some companies (Betty Crocker for one) keeps their allergy-conscientious foods away from their regular fare. As in, all of their gluten free foods are processed out of a separate plant that contains no ingredients with gluten at all so cross-contamination is as slim as possible. Maybe GM could get on board and have a separate factory for their tree nut/peanut products?
Nope, it was totally directed at someone whose kid I've never met and have no idea about food allergies. //sarcasm
Point was it's unrealistic to expect a company to cater to a very specific market segment and not make an entire product because of the risk of cross-contamination. The onus is on the consumer to choose what they will purchase and from whom they will purchase it.
Beanie. It. is. stupid. to. be. mad. at. the. company. GM is under NO obligation to keep an allergy-free offering of foods.
I am severely allergic to penicillin. This is the same as those with penicillin allergies to demanding a pharmacy be penicillin free to avoid any cross-contamination between instruments used to count pills. It is nearly impossible for a general company, that is, one not in the business of serving specialty markets, to be able to serve every special need. It's not the company's fault or obligation.
Obviously as a mom to a kid with a life threatening allergy, you read labels and choose products that don't state that they contain peanuts, or may have been processed on the same equipment as products containing peanuts. So if the peanut butter cheerios are clearly marked as NOT being peanut free but regular cheerios ARE marked as being peanut free, why would you not allow them in you own home? Is it just out of fear that your kid will come into contact with them elsewhere and not know the difference?
Otherwise wouldn't you have to stop buying any product (even if marked as safe) that is made by a company that also makes products with peanuts just in case there is cross contamination?
My original post was to acknowledge that I think it's just important to understand how scary this announcement can be for a parent who has a child with life threatening allergies.
I think the company has every right to make them, and I understand a mom who would decide to stop buying Cheerios. If it doesn't look like a food my kid has had before, maybe he won't eat it. (although I think I read it looks differently anyway)
I do think that many of PP came off as mocking, because they don't understand how serious this is for some families, hence the reason I said it needs more education. If my kid has a playdate with yours, I want you to be uber sensitive to his allergy so I don't come back from the bathroom to find him in anaphylactic shock.
One of the things I like best about the bump is that it brings other issues parents and families are dealing with to my attention. I think it allows me to be a better mom to my own kid and perhaps allows me to support other parents. It doesn't mean I have to protest a company, but maybe to have some empathy over where they're coming from.
Robin rolled her eyes at the drama its getting. Not kids with PB allergies, and in no way would she mock a kid with allergies.
While we're on the subject of rudeness and mocking, your comment about factory workers being mindless donkeys who don't care enough to make sure cross-contamination doesn't occur is incredibly rude and prejudiced. Mistakes happen on assembly lines and more companies maybe could keep separate companies for products that contain allergens, but no one is purposefully trying to harm kids with allergies.
I am lost. I dont see how Beanie said that GM was being irresponsible or that she is mad at them for expanding their business opportunities. It seems to me that she is more mad that she will be giving up Cheerios for her LO because she is being conscientious about ingredients and cross contamination. And making that choice as a consumer. Not that she is expecting GM to change their product offerings.
Ugh. I am ever so glad that so far, C has no allergies to any foods. From the people on TB who do have kids with allergies, besides being a PITA, it has to be so stressful worrying about your kids health and life everytime they come in contact with someone or something that may be contaminated.
"We like nothing better than buffing our Zygoma. And imagining a horny time traveling long overcoat purple scarf wearing super sleuth nordic legend fuck fantasy. Get to work on that, internet." Benedict Cumberbatch
<a href
I completely understand that. But we don't even know if it will be made in the same plant therefore making regular cheerios now unsafe, do we? If we do, I stand corrected.
I was just speaking to the fact that some products by the same manufacturer can be either safe or not.
I completely understand that, because that's basically what I just said. But we don't even know if it will be made in the same plant therefore making regular cheerios now unsafe, do we? If we do, I stand corrected.
Why would they have been marketed as "safe" ever? There are several other Cheerios items containing nuts.
That's my point. GM made it clear in their response that they take allergen contamination very seriously and noted which cereals are not peanut-free. So why are we assuming that ALL cheerios are now bad instead of assuming the PB cheerios will be made in the same factory as the other contaminated cereals?
I believe this is the first Cheerios to specifically have peanuts in them. Many people are allergic to peanuts but not other tree nuts, and then there are the people allergic to all tree nuts. Peanut allergies from what I understand can often be more serious and deadly than some other nut allergies, kind of like shellfish can be, because instead of causing a reaction like hives or some mild swelling, they can cause severe swelling in the throat so that the person can no longer breathe. Again, I have no personal experience with allergies, so please correct me if I am wrong. This is as much for my education as it is for anyone elses.
"We like nothing better than buffing our Zygoma. And imagining a horny time traveling long overcoat purple scarf wearing super sleuth nordic legend fuck fantasy. Get to work on that, internet." Benedict Cumberbatch
<a href
Nothing demeaning about that. You're just a peach, aren't you? //sarc
Guys, two things:
1. You're assuming PB Cheerios and all the other nut-free Cheerios are produced on the same line or in the same plant and not even considering that these may not even be made in the same state.
2. General Mills, along other food company giants who stand to lose much from, oh, killing their consumers through an easily avoidable allergen cross-contact issue, label if their nut-free products are made on a same line or facility as nut-containing (or other major allergen-containing, for that matter) products.
Trust me. I work in the food industry. These companies outsource their nut-containing products to a handful of small central nut-producing manufacturing locations because, to food companies, using nut ingredients is akin to working with frigging nuclear material.
ETA: Tried to fix confusing wording
eh, you don't get to be prickly about people's oversensitivities. You once flipped your shits and called me anti-Christian a couple times because I said the Founding Fathers were deists and then questioned the bias and motives of the source you provided.
Cheerio's aren't the only Cherrio-type food out there, guys.
Malt-o-Meal has a Cheerio. Most stores have their own cheerios.
I'd wager to say that there are additional cheerio options if your kid is that hard up for cheerios.
So buy those instead of cheerios instead of getting all pissy at GM for a business decision.
And the rest of us will happily gobble up the PB cheerios you don't eat.
That is all.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
www.metrobabyblog.com