<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I had occasion to call General Mills today about their plain Cheerios. I
had told someone that they have wheat in them, and in fact, this used to
be listed as the 3d ingredient on their box. (After Ben developed gluten
problems, I suddenly knew why he reacted to Cheerios!) Anyway, this person
said they don't have wheat listed anymore, and she sent me the list of
ingredients. The one suspect ingredient (besides the oats) was "modified
food starch." I was curious about this, so I called.

Well, the customer service rep. told me that the modified food starch is,
indeed, WHEAT *but they don't list it because they don't consider it an
allergen!* She said they list the top 8 allergens on their products (I had
noticed that the frosted Cheerios mention wheat and almonds as being
present), but because they "remove the protein" they don't consider the
wheat starch to be an allergen, and thus, do not list it. I mentioned to
her that some folks would have a problem with this (!) but I didn't pursue
the issue any further. I know that wheat starch is a debatable topic for
some, but we avoid it.

For those of you who are allergic to wheat (but not celiac), take note! We
still can't trust labels, even when the company thinks they are trying to
be helpful!

Anne Washburn
North Carolina