Uh oh....peanut butter cheerios

[Melaine]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/new-peanut-butter-cheerios-triggers-anger-from-parents/2012/01/09/gIQAqm0rlP_blog.html

[MamaMolly]

Buh bye Cheerios. Unless the peanut ones are run on a dedicated line the we are no longer Cheerio consumers. :(

[willow33]

I love the idea of peanut butter Cheerios (pb lover), but think the company is crazy for even thinking about it. The point about children sharing Cheerios and the shape/look being the same is just scary. Hopefully they rethink their decision...

[Nechums]

Maybe theyll make it a dark color, like chocolate Cheerios? That way there will be no confusion between regular and pb Cheerios.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[ett]

Seriously?! The article says it's hard to distinguish the regular Cheerios and the peanut butter ones by appearance. What were they thinking?

[justlearning]

Maybe theyll make it a dark color, like chocolate Cheerios? That way there will be no confusion between regular and pb Cheerios.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

The picture shows them looking the same or a little lighter in color than the regular ones. Very scary!

[MSWR0319]

One more thing for me to worry about when DS goes to school next year. I wish they could at least make them obviously different than the regular ones.

[sdrew99]

I just bought PB Cheerios today and opened the box - they actually don't look much like "regular" Cheerios at all - they are a mix of three different color Cherrios - light yellow, orangish and brown color. Just FYI! :)

And for the record...they weren't that good. So maybe no one will buy them! :)

[Melaine]

They looked like multi-grain cheerios to me....not sure if those are nut-free or not.

[gatorsmom]

I think the only way the company could save face is to assure parents that there is a devoted line for the peanut cheerios ONLY and that there is no way that visually pbcheerios could be confused with regular cheerios. Like make the pbcheerios square or a solid circle. Or orange

[jiggaman]

I'm not familiar with these things but don't Honey Nut Cheerios then have the same issues? If the PB Cheerios are that risky, are the Honey Nut Cheerios not as risky in terms of coloring and cross contamination?

[Melaine]

I'm not familiar with these things but don't Honey Nut Cheerios then have the same issues? If the PB Cheerios are that risky, are the Honey Nut Cheerios not as risky in terms of coloring and cross contamination?

I think they are made with almonds.

[o_mom]

I think the only way the company could save face is to assure parents that there is a devoted line for the peanut cheerios ONLY and that there is no way that visually pbcheerios could be confused with regular cheerios. Like make the pbcheerios square or a solid circle. Or orange

But, right now you can't (at least I can't) distinguish Honey Nut Cheerios from regular Cheerios. I know they are almond and not peanut, but that would be the same for someone with a tree nut allergy. GM has a whole lot of products that contain peanuts/tree nuts as well as many that do not (with no 'made in a facility warnings'), so I'm certain they already have facilities for both nut-containing and nut-free products.

[tribe pride]

I get emails from my local allergy/FAAN support group, and received an email about this a few days ago. Here's what the email said, quoting a man who works at General Mills and is familiar with their policies regarding allergies:

"He told me that Gen Mills has very strict guidelines regarding food allergens. He said that no product made with nuts is run on the same line as non-nut products. If it ever does happen, the entire line is sterilized first. He also said that they use Plexi-glass dividers to try to help prevent the spread of allergens."

So as far as cross-contamination is concerned, I think the concern is about the same level as with honey nut cheerios or banana nut cheerios. Probably negligible. I'm fine with serving regular and multi-grain cheerios to my FA DS. However, I think the bigger concern is that it's one more food that FA families have to be aware of and try to keep away from their kids. In my mind, honey nut cheerios seems more targeted towards adults, while peanut butter seems more geared toward children. I mean, if I didn't have a FA kid, I could easily see myself thinking, "Hey, great! Peanut Butter cheerios! My kid will love this!" When more and more kid-friendly foods are offered in nut versions, it makes it harder to keep FA kids safe. And not that kids can, or should, live in a bubble. But as a FA parent, the prevalence of kid foods made with pb or other nuts stresses me out sometimes.

[alien_host]

DD has peanut/tree nut allergies. We aren't a big cheerios fans anymore, she hasn't wanted them in years. BUT I think they are missing the point that a small child will not know the difference between peanut butter vs plain based on sight alone. So I suppose there is a risk of a small child eating it inadvertantly from a friend's cup or whatever, but this could also happen with Honey Nut,. I suppose GM has done what they need to do about labeling and cross contamination issues, and it's not their responsiblity to make sure some small kids doesn't mistake a PB Cheerio for a 'safe' one., but it's kind of frustrating in general how many PB items have come to the market. ETA: tribe_pride makes a good point that Honey Nut is more "adult" focused than for kids.

We buy GM products, I've been OK with their labeling for the most part. However, I noticed several years ago that Chocolate Chex had PEANUT FLOUR in them. I thought that was crazy since you would not expect peanut flour in a chocolate cereal right? Who uses peanut flour as a mainstream ingredient?

Although in general I am bothered by all the peanut "flavored" items out there...they seem to be making more and more - ie Peanut butter rice krispy treats etc.

Although the good thing is that Jelly Belly stopped making the peanut butter jelly beans.

[DrSally]

I get emails from my local allergy/FAAN support group, and received an email about this a few days ago. Here's what the email said, quoting a man who works at General Mills and is familiar with their policies regarding allergies:

"He told me that Gen Mills has very strict guidelines regarding food allergens. He said that no product made with nuts is run on the same line as non-nut products. If it ever does happen, the entire line is sterilized first. He also said that they use Plexi-glass dividers to try to help prevent the spread of allergens."

So as far as cross-contamination is concerned, I think the concern is about the same level as with honey nut cheerios or banana nut cheerios. Probably negligible. I'm fine with serving regular and multi-grain cheerios to my FA DS. However, I think the bigger concern is that it's one more food that FA families have to be aware of and try to keep away from their kids. In my mind, honey nut cheerios seems more targeted towards adults, while peanut butter seems more geared toward children. I mean, if I didn't have a FA kid, I could easily see myself thinking, "Hey, great! Peanut Butter cheerios! My kid will love this!" When more and more kid-friendly foods are offered in nut versions, it makes it harder to keep FA kids safe. And not that kids can, or should, live in a bubble. But as a FA parent, the prevalence of kid foods made with pb or other nuts stresses me out sometimes.

ITA with all of this. We are ok with having Honey nut cheerios in the house (for DH) b/c it's almonds and not peanuts (we avoid treenuts b/c of peanut x-contamination, but they don't raise the hair on my arms like having peanuts around does). DS knows not to eat them. DS lives on plain Cheerios for breakfast. The prospect of having peanut cheerios makes me nervous. I need to find out more about their manufacturing proceedures. If they make the plain in a totally separate plant, that would be best, but IDK. In general, GM is very good about labelling. I heard somewhere (not verified), that one of the higher ups in the company has a relative w/a peanut allergy. I trust them and their labelling more than other companies.

I'm just going to have to tell DS not to eat Cheerios from anyone else, unless he knows their plain. I might go to the store and show him the pb box too.

[Momit]

This seems like a bad idea, especially with the recent death of that little girl in Virginia. Do we really need another flavor of Cheerios?

[vonfirmath]

In my mind, honey nut cheerios seems more targeted towards adults, while peanut butter seems more geared toward children.

In our house, growing up, honey nut cheerios WAS the kid cereal.

[clc053103]

I don't have a child with a FA. However, I have taught him not to eat other people's food, and have always taught that it is not acceptable to walk around while eating out of a bag of food. So the statement in the article about worrying their child would take food out of another child's bag they were carrying around seems ridiculous, like this is something parents shouldn't allow regardless of a food allergy. particularly in a public place, I am watching my child like a hawk anyway, and certainly would stop him before he ate someone else's food, simply because that's gross.

Though I do wonder why GM wouldn't just make them very obviously different, like a very dark color, etc.

[m448]

I watched a 2 year old walk around with a nutfilled trail mix in a baggie at the local playground. Had to keep an eye around him since one of mine has a treenut and peanut allergy and at the time was about 2 1/2 years old. So yes it happens. Not to mention the oils and proteins being put on surfaces which was right around the time we left.

[HIU8]

ditto here, and both my kids love it. I won't be buying pb flavor though.

[DrSally]

Kids walk around with snacks all the time. We were walking into a playspace and some kids were holding PB granola bars in their hands wo/ wrappers. I'd talked w/ the mom before at the park, and asked her to wash the boys hands before playing in the playspace. She was fine w/ it.

When Ds was allergic to eggs and milk, i remember having to watch him like a hawk at playdates, when all the other moms were chatting in the kitchen. I couldn't leave him for a second, for fear he'd pick up a spare goldfish.

[amldaley]

But, right now you can't (at least I can't) distinguish Honey Nut Cheerios from regular Cheerios. I know they are almond and not peanut, but that would be the same for someone with a tree nut allergy. GM has a whole lot of products that contain peanuts/tree nuts as well as many that do not (with no 'made in a facility warnings'), so I'm certain they already have facilities for both nut-containing and nut-free products.


Tree nut allergies are far less common that peanut allergies, though and not everyone who has a tree nut allergy is allergic to almonds. (They are not actually tree nuts...they are drupes). Not saying that someone wouldn't be allergic to almonds, but it is a much smaller percentage of the population than peanut. I think the honey nut cheerios darker color and glossy coating is easy to spot visually.

[roseyloxs]

I watched a 2 year old walk around with a nutfilled trail mix in a baggie at the local playground. Had to keep an eye around him since one of mine has a treenut and peanut allergy and at the time was about 2 1/2 years old. So yes it happens. Not to mention the oils and proteins being put on surfaces which was right around the time we left.

I could see my kids being guilty of this. I don't usually let them bring snacks to the park but they are allowed snacks during long walks which occasionally end at the park. As a mom who doesn't think of FA immediately I would not be offended at all if you asked me to put my kid's snack away and wash/sanitize their hands. I personally don't know anyone with a peanut allergy so its something I don't think about ever.

I don't know if this is mostly an American problem because the local kindergarten here in Germany looked at me like I had a third eye when I asked if peanut butter was allowed in lunchboxes. They had no idea why it would not be allowed. You also have to sign consent and acknowledge that kids tend to share food at lunch.

[o_mom]

Tree nut allergies are far less common that peanut allergies, though and not everyone who has a tree nut allergy is allergic to almonds. (They are not actually tree nuts...they are drupes). Not saying that someone wouldn't be allergic to almonds, but it is a much smaller percentage of the population than peanut. I think the honey nut cheerios darker color and glossy coating is easy to spot visually.

So, I looked it up out of curiosity... and most sources put the incidence of tree nut allergies at close to the same rate at peanut, or at least not way less. This one, for instance puts them both at 1.2%: http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/allergy-statistics.aspx#Food_Allergy There is probably some overlap in those of people allergic to both and a subset may not avoid almonds (although most of my IRL friends who have kids with nut allergies, tree or peanut or both, avoid all nuts as a rule especially in the ages we are talking about), but I think the comparison is still valid.

If I had a honey nut cheerio next to a regular one, I could probably figure it out if I studied them, but not just looking at one by itself could I say for sure if it was regular or honey nut. In fact, we regularly buy a box of each and mix them and I have a hard time telling which is which. Of course that could be brand differences (TJs vs. 'real'), but I don't think they are that easy to distinguish by themselves - could just be me, though. :)