Review: New Gluten-Free Cheerios

For the last few months, I have been walking down the cereal aisle every week in hopes of spotting the new gluten-free Cheerios. Last night, I finally found them at Giant! In fact, I almost missed them since the front of the new gluten-free boxes is almost identical to the old ones, except for the gluten-free stamp on the bottom right. Plus, there were many old boxes mixed with the new ones. 

For the majority of my life before celiac disease, one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast was a bowl of Cheerios mixed with Rice Krispies. When I heard last spring that Kellogg’s was discontinuing gluten-free Rice Krispies, I immediately stocked up and set aside several boxes to enjoy with the new gluten-free Cheerios. So last night for dinner, I enjoyed a bowl of gluten-free Rice Krispies mixed with the gluten-free Cheerios! 

When I opened the yellow Cheerios box, I instantly recognized its distinct aroma. The Cheerios were delicious! It is funny that I don’t remember them becoming so soggy in milk. I guess that really stood out to me since the texture is unlike any gluten-free cereal I have eaten in the last eight years, but in a good way. This morning for breakfast, I had a bowl of the gluten-free Multigrain Cheerios, which I loved! Wheat and barley were removed from the Multigrain Cheerios, and they added sorghum and millet instead. All the other Cheerios have the exact same taste as before. 

Instead of using certified gluten-free oats, General Mills has come up with “a way to sort the other grains out of our oats.” Part of this process is explained on the back of the new box. I must admit it is odd to buy a product that shows a pile of oats as “what we put in” and then three piles of what is removed: wheat, rye, and barley. However, I trust General Mills when it comes to gluten-free, and I didn’t have any problems from eating the Cheerios. For more about their process, watch this video. I read on the Cheerios website that “every batch of gluten-free oats is tested to make sure it has less than 20 parts per million of other grains.”

Now, if Kellogg’s would bring back gluten-free Rice Krispies, it would be gluten-free cereal nirvana for all! I look forward to trying gluten-free Honey Nut Cheerios next. They are also available in gluten-free Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Frosted Cheerios. I am excited to stock up the next time there is a Cheerios sale!

Update August 14, 2015: The Gluten-Free Watchdog has expressed significant concerns over the safety of gluten-free Cheerios for people with celiac disease. Please read her position, so you can make an informed decision for yourself. At the time of my review, I was unaware of these concerns. I ate many bowls, especially of Multigrain Cheerios, and did not experience any problems.

Gluten-Free News: Hamburger Helper, Frito Lay, California Pizza Kitchen, Celiac Vaccine, Petitions, and a Twitter Party

If you like gluten-free Hamburger Helper, stock up before it is gone. In an email posted on Celiac-Disease.com, General Mills states that it will no longer be gluten-free.

"Essentially, our three Helpers items, Hamburger Helper Cheesy Hashbrown, Asian Helper Chicken Fried Rice and Asian Helper Beef Fried Rice will soon no longer be gluten free. This is due to a change in manufacturing facilities, and although gluten will not be used as an ingredient in any of the three products, we will no longer be able to guarantee that they will be free from cross-contamination."

Also on Celiac-Disease.com, you can find the new Frito Lay gluten-free list. It appears that they now have a larger list of products that they test for gluten.

At the end of June, California Pizza Kitchen will be adding a gluten-free pizza crust. For more information, read this Gluten-Free Philly blog post.

There are promising results for a celiac vaccine as explained in ScienceDaily this week. The Phase I trial of Nexvax2 was conducted in Australia. The Phase II trial is expected to begin in 10 months.

Please take a few minutes to sign these two important gluten-free petitions.

Encourage the Girl Scouts to sell an allergen-free cookie

Encourage the FDA to finalize gluten-free labeling rules
For a detailed recap of the 1in133 event and how they built the world's largest gluten-free cake, read Jules Shepard's new blog post.

On Wednesday, May 25 at 8 pm ET, the US Potato Board will host a gluten-free twitter party and will offer five prizes. The US Potato Board created a new gluten-free recipe collection, which includes 80 recipes, such as gluten-free potato lasagna.

Gluten-Free Chex Launching in Canada

Here is some great news for gluten-free Canadians. Two varieties of gluten-free Chex will be coming to Canada in summer 2011. Below is the message that was shared on the Gluten Freely Facebook page.

"General Mills is excited to announce that we are bringing two varieties of gluten free CHEX cereal to Canada! Great tasting Honey Nut Chex and Rice Chex will be available in the cereal aisle at national retailers across the country by the end of June."

Sign up here to receive more information.

New Gluten-Free Asian Helper Chicken Fried Rice: Box Photos and Ingredients

I found the new gluten-free Asian Helper Chicken Fried Rice at Safeway today for $2. One box makes five servings, and one serving has 520 mg of sodium. Here are the ingredients, allergens, and directions. Click on the photo of the directions to read it. The other two gluten-free Hamburger Helper varieties will be in stores later this summer.

New Gluten-Free Bisquick, Hamburger Helper, and Nature Valley Bars

Anne Steib just posted an exciting article on Celiac-Disease.com, "General Mills to debut gluten-free Bisquick at Annual Celiac Disease Foundation Conference". The new gluten-free Bisquick will be in stores later this summer along with three gluten-free varieties of Hamburger Helper: Chicken Fried Rice, Cheesy Hashbrowns and Beef Fried Rice. Recently, General Mills posted the following on their Live Gluten Freely Facebook page.

"Searching for a gluten free on-the-go snack that’s crunchy, wholesome and delicious? The search is over! Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch Bars (Almond) are now labeled gluten free! They started shipping March 31st and will be available in stores soon. Be sure to look for them at your local grocer! As always, a friendly reminder to look for the gluten free label on the pack to confirm that the product is GF."

General Mills is certainly committed to expanding their gluten-free offerings and listening to consumers! Visit the newly expanded Live Gluten Freely website, which now includes blog posts from Kimberly Bouldin and Vanessa Maltin, over 250 gluten-free products, and many recipes.

More General Mills Products Labeled Gluten-Free

There are now over 250 General Mills products that are labeled gluten-free. The Live Gluten Freely website was updated this week, and all the new products are indicated in red. The additions include Betty Crocker frosting, several Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers, and more varieties of Progresso soup and Yoplait yogurt.

According to other bloggers, the Strawberry Chex has been discontinued. It is not listed on Live Gluten Freely. The website has several gluten-free Valentine's Day recipes.

Epicurious Brownie Taste Test

Epicurious performed a blind taste test of 21 brownie mixes. Many gluten-free brownie mixes were tested along with gluten mixes. The winner, which beat Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, Ghirardelli, and Pillsbury classic gluten brownies was Betty Crocker gluten-free brownies! Note the price listed for the Betty Crocker gluten-free brownies is incorrect. The actual suggested retail price is $4.49.

The gluten-free brownie first runner up was the brownie mix from the Really Great Food Company. Although it is expensive and not crunchy, the judges liked that it was fluffy and chewy. Below is a list of all the brownies that were tested and their ranking.

"The 21 varieties of brownie mix we tasted are available nationwide in supermarkets or online. They included the following, listed from highest to lowest score achieved in our taste test: Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix, Archer Farms Chocolate Overload Brownie Mix, The Really Great Food Company Gluten Free Brownie Mix , Duncan Hines Family-Style Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix, Cherrybrook Kitchen Fudge Brownie Mix With Chocolate Chips,* Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams Fudge Brownie Mix,* Hol-Grain Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Mix,* Pillsbury Milk Chocolate Brownie Mix, Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Mix, Stonewall Kitchen Triple Fudge Brownie Mix, Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix,* Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Brownie Mix,* Namaste Foods Gluten Free Brownie Mix, Marie Callender's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix, Dr. Oetker Organic Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix, Trader Joe's Gluten Free Brownie Mix, Arrowhead Mills Organic Bake With Me Brownie Mix, Pamela's Products Chocolate Brownie Mix, Jiffy Fudge Brownie Mix, Now Foods Gluten Free Whey Too Good Brownie Mix. (* The asterisk denotes brands that tied for the same score.)"

Recap: General Mills Gluten-Free Twitter Party

It was wonderful seeing so many people at the General Mills gluten-free Twitter party last night, especially people newly diagnosed with celiac disease and those new to twitter. The party was organized by @foodallergybuzz and @bestallergysite for General Mills. I enjoyed being a panelist, along with @glutenfreedee and the two General Mills employees.

In addition to many bloggers, @larabar and @BettyCrocker attended. There were also international guests: @GFLifeIreland and several people in Canada, including @AllergicLiving magazine. GF Life magazine, the first gluten-free magazine in Ireland, will be launching in February 2010. When I tweeted that I like the new peanut butter and jelly Larabar, about ten people tweeted that they also like it. Larabar said it is a favorite at their office.

Over 100 people RSVP’d for the party. There were approximately 1,300 tweets during the party, which lasted for about two hours, instead of the scheduled one hour. During that time, I surprisingly did 131 tweets. All of the tweets from the #glutenfreely party can still be read on Twapper Keeper. I use Tweet Grid during twitter parties and find it generally works well. It automatically adds the party hashtag to tweets.

Most people probably didn’t realize that General Mills provided me with several of the conversation questions that I asked during the party. It is great to know that General Mills cares about us sharing gluten-free tips on a variety of topics and wants to know what new products we would like to see. There were many great ideas, including eggrolls, carrot cake mix, sugar cookie mix, ready to bake cinnamon rolls, croissants, biscuits, Bisquick, frozen pot stickers, tasty lower calorie food, petit fours, and wonton soup. General Mills also provided trivia questions, and five prize packs were given away.

General Mills announced that more products will be added to their Live Gluten Freely website in the middle of February. "Look for frosting and soup, green giant vegetables and more yoplait!" There is a General Mills gluten-free product locator and a new recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookie cheesecake on the Betty Crocker website. Subscribe to the General Mills gluten-free newsletter and join their Facebook fan page.

Follow me on Twitter and follow my Twitter list of 110 gluten-free bloggers and Examiners.

Invitation to the General Mills Gluten-Free Twitter Party

I am so pleased to announce that I was selected to be a panelist at the General Mills gluten-free twitter party on January 14, 2010 at 7pm EST. "The first 50 people to RSVP will receive a coupon to try the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Dessert Mixes for free!" There will also be prizes during the party! Chat with other panel members, including Gluten-Free Dee and two General Mills employees.

"Gluten Free in the New Year: Even Easier than Before

Ring in the New Year with a little help from your friends!

Join us for our latest Twitter Party as we discuss living gluten free. We’ll cover a host of topics including how to find great gluten free foods, new and exciting gluten free recipes and products, and how living gluten free is easier than ever!"

View the party invitation and RSVP now! Don't miss the great new General Mills gluten-free website.