Hey GMO Insiders,
First off, thank you! The feedback we've gotten so far after our report release last week has been great, and we know we're lucky to have thoughtful and engaging activists following our work. On that note, we've received a lot of questions about Cheerios in Europe, and thought it'd be good to clarify our point on this one.
Cheerios sold in Europe do not contain any genetically modified ingredients. General Mills addresses this briefly in their Global Responsibility Report for 2013: "As a consumer-focused company, GM tries to deliver what consumers what and need. For that reason, products we produce for Europe do not use genetically modified ingredients."
(Quick note: In Europe, General Mills operates under a joint "cereal partnership"venture with Nestle, which is why European Cheerios display the Nestle logo. However, General Mills still profits from all their products sold under Nestle's name in Europe.)
Since 1997, the EU has required mandatory labeling of all genetically modified foods. Regulations were updated in 2000 and 2003, reinforcing a rigorous safety assessment on a case-by-case basis for any GMO foods. Due to this use of the precautionary principle, many growers and consumers in European markets are careful to check labels for genetically modified ingredients.
With the lack of consumer approval (or even demand) for foods containing GMOs in Europe, General Mills provides accordingly - with Cheerios that do not contain GMOs. Unfortunately, the same does not apply here in the U.S.
As part of our GMO Inside campaign, we believe that General Mills should offer the same, non-GMO Cheerios that they already produce for consumers in the EU to consumers outside of the EU (that's us!). Until then, if you want to be sure your Cheerios are free of GMOs, all you have to do is book an $800 round trip flight to Europe and stock up.
If $800 is too steep, take action now by signing our petition at NoGMOsCheerios.org and sending our new YouTube video to 10 friends.
Until next time,
Michelle
