New Peanut Butter Cheerios Worry Parents of Allergic Kids

Cheerios is not the first peanur butter cereal on the market. If you or any family members allergic to peanuts, then DON’T BUY IT!

People also need to remember that the world doesn’t revolve solely around children. There are plenty of adults, myself included, who enjoy cereal.

It’s just another product. Parents, educate your kids! Simple as that!

I had a doctor tell me that if a drop of oil from shrimp being fried, I could indeed have a reaction, if that drop fell on the food, I was eating. And, that is exactly what happened, so I am with these worried parents. I won’t even buy food from a grocery store deli as they are not careful with cross-contamination.

The concern is not whether these parents of “peanut” allergic children should or shouldn’t purchase Peanut Butter Cheerios. It’s the fact that the new cereal looks so much like the regular Cheerios. Being a parent of a “peanut” allergic child, I will now have to be cautious of children running around playgrounds, buses and other public areas with a bag of Cheerios as I won’t know if they have the regular Cheerios or the ones with Peanut Butter. Kids touch everything without washing their hands. They will be contaminating every surface that they touch with Peanut Butter.

Response to Chery: The problem isn’t buying the wrong food, it’s sharing food. This is why I never eat homemade baked goods not made by myself.

It is not the responsibility of the rest of society to cater to every single problem of every single child. A granola bar without peanuts look exactly like a granola bar without peanuts. Should the government require that all food products with peanuts be dyed blue? There wouldn’t be enough colors in the rainbow to distinguish all the food allergies people have. Parents, if you have a child with special needs, it’s first and foremost your responsibility to educated them on how to coduct themselves in public. I do my best to educate my daughter on not sharing foods with kids at school, but I shouldn’t feel like I can’t put anything with a drop of peanut in it because some kid at her school has an allergy. Peanuts happen to be a healthy and nutritious snack.

It wouldn’t be at all hard to stripe the cheerios or color them a different (obvious) color so that they could be distinguished from other cheerios.

It sounds great!

Thanks GM! Just what the marketplace needs … another sugar laden breakfast cereal (9G of sugar per 3/4 cup serving). And we wonder why this country is filled with fat blobs? While we are talking about personal responsibility here, how about all of the diabetics and people with other health related issues due to being overweight and obese (who I am sure would looove this new offering of a peanut butter breakfast cereal) pay higher premiums for health insurance so that those of normal weight who strive to eat a healthy diet don’t have to offset your medical expenses with our own high premiums.

This is so what is wrong with the world today…no empathy or sympathy. If it was your child you would feel different. Its funny how childish adults get over not getting their stupid peanut butter, lol. Grow up!

I am so sick and tired of people trying to force their concerns on everything. My daughter has a peanut allergy but I would never ask that a company not make a new product because it is made with peanuts. Get over it. If you teach your child about their allergy and teach them to ask if something has peanuts, and you are diligent when reading labels, you don’t need to get carried away. Our daughter has known since she was 2 to ask. Her friends and her sister still eat their trail mix and peanut butter sandwiches and everyone is happy. Some of these people need to chill out and stop dictating that the world should come to a halt because their child might die because of something. Hello, your child could die just walking out their front door to go to school, but we still let them go.

This is just sickening to read. Where is the compassion for others? Are we really writing such mean things about children who happen to have food allergies (aka: a disability)? Are we THAT mean??!!! Food allergies is a very sensitive topic, and partly becuse it is so misunderstood. Please, refrain from ranting about a topic that you truly do not know about. Its no wonder children are bullies, they get their lack of compassion from these very adults. I’d hope in this day and age we’d have some RESPECT for others and the challenges they face. One day you may need compassion for something, such as a newly developed food allergy at age 40 (yes you can develop them at any time), a terminal illness, a serious accident, etc and I do hope you are shown more compassion than what you have given these families and their children.

I think that this thread is getting way out of hand… The bottom line is that the cheerios need to be a different color. I have unfortunately observed children having severe allergic reactions to foods and it is terrible. NO ONE should have to see that or have to go through it. It is not just about children, but about adults also. It can’t be the sole responsibility of a CHILD to know all ingredients in the food offered to them, nor is it the responsibility of other children to know what they are given when being nice and sharing. Yes we can teach our children to learn what they are allergic to, however you can’t teach a toddler and this is where majority of the problems are. People have food allergies and still deserve to live the same life as everyone else and we should all be wanting to keep our society safe. We are all adults and should be more caring and not be saying such terrible things about people who just want what is best for a lot of people in this world. All that needs to happen is change the color.

I agree with an earlier comment. The parent has a kid with a peanut allergy and buys peanut butter cereal? Idiot. As a parent you should be checking every box, every label. Even products you get in a regular basis–sometimes things change.

This is going to sound mean but what did people do before epi-pens? Oh that’s right. They didn’t survive to pass down tendencies for deadly allergies. People are allergic to everything these days and it keeps getting WORSE.

Many keep asking, what is the difference in this new peanut butter Cheerio than other peanut products? The difference is…all of us have helped to make General Mills cereals number one in the market. Now GM is choosing to make life MUCH harder for millions of families who have children with nut allergies. GM is choosing to create a Peanut Butter LOOK-ALIKE cereal…it looks just like their MultiGrain version that is nut-safe! Children with deadly food allergies, that would be 1 in 12 now, have to choose their food carefully or they will die. Parents and caregivers have to stay vigilant every day and do their best to not make mistakes. But mistakes happen and children die. It’s like walking in a minefield. Cheerios is the number one brand that is MOST OFTEN toted around without boxes. Chances are, if you find a round O, it will be a GM brand Cheerio. Most often, the Cheerio is a toddlers first finger food. If there is a peanut butter look alike version of the safe food, MultiGrain, that these children have been eating for, say, 1 to 5 years already, it will make life MUCH more difficult…and the price is possibly death.

We teach out children not to eat anything unless they know it is safe. But this is a process and children make mistakes! Adults make mistakes! All GM has to do is make a color difference. It would go a long way in helping millions of families. NO, they do not HAVE to do this…but it is the socially responsible thing to do when a few million children are involved. GM made the statement saying that you can’t tell an allergen by looking at it. We know this! We are in charge of keeping our children alive every day. GM’s statement is callous. They KNOW that creating a LOOK ALIKE peanut butter cereal will put our children in jeopardy and make life that much more difficult. Since their product is number one…chances are if you find a round O on the playground, it is a GM brand. Risk factors will shoot up needlessly.

In all the landmines that children with deadly food allergies have to walk through, GM is creating a napalm bomb of all landmines…and doing so intentionally. GM already creates different colored Cheerios. They have the ability to change the LOOK of their Peanut Butter cereal to anything different than their nut-free and safe cereal that our children have enjoyed for years. We have helped to make GM number one and we deserve GM to have a little social responsibility towards children that already suffer emotionally from not being allowed to eat most processed foods, has to stay away from parties and sleepovers, has to always have a safe alternatives to most foods that others enjoy daily, and the list is endless.

Why does GM have to add to these problems on purpose? There is NO reason for their actions other than they simply do not care. But their lack of empathy and dangerous practice of creating look-alike cereals that contain the number one deadly allergen, peanuts, and cause 90% of the deaths in food allergic people, borders on being liable. They are intentionally being reckless over the pleas of millions of their customers.

I have seen parents on here that do not have children with food allergies…but they have enough brains and heart to stand with us for ALL children. GM is choosing to stand with their customers who make hateful, bullying, and unreasonable remarks to parents that are already hurting. If you have ever had to stab a child with an epi-pen in hopes that they would stay alive and not suffocate…you would understand.

But chances are, YOU will understand in the future because 1 in 12 children have deadly food allergies now! It is gaining epidemic proportions. Chances are you will have a child, close friend, spouse, or loved one that battles this deadly hidden disability. Women now have a 1 in 50 chance to give birth to a baby that will develop a deadly food allergy! We need to ban together and find a CURE!!!! Do we have to wait until 1 in 2 have deadly food allergies?

More empathy and heart are needed for companies to stand up and say they will help where they can!!!!!!!! Many companies are taking this stand. It’s just a HUGE step backwards for General Mills to intentionally create a look-alike cereal, especially since they are the number one cereal….they are number one, off the back of children and parent

(Another piece of evidence.)

Cleaning out my pantry today, I found a PLASTIC CHEERIOS CONTAINER marketed by General Mills…many, if not most of you, have seen these little yellow containers. No labels…yet GM quips that parents need to always read labels. GM knows that Cheerios are the number one cereal in America and they encourage parents to tote them around without labels…they manufacture products to tote their cereals around in!!! GM’s statement regarding, ‘you can’t tell an allergen by its looks’, is callous. We know how to TRY and keep our children safe…we do it vigilantly every day. General Mills KNOWS that they have marketed, for decades, their “safe and healthy” cereal to be one of the first finger foods many children eat…and carry around…they encourage it…they sell products that make it CONVENIENT to tote their Cheerio cereals around in with no labels!!!

Chances are, if you find a little O on a hotel floor, a friend’s carseat, a doctor’s waiting room, a playground, etc…it will be a GM Cheerio. GM knows their manufacturing of a look alike peanut butter Cheerio is a napalm bomb of all landmines to parents with toddlers! Parents and children made GM number one…now they disgustingly have no social responsibility to a few million kids that have hidden food disabilities? Their actions are bordering on liable. GM can certainly make a color change that would be more easily identifiable when parents and allergic children come across Cheerios out of the box. GM manufacturers Reese’s Peanut Butter KIX, and they have a different shape and COLOR.

Why can’t GM make their new Peanut Butter Cheerio the same color as their Reese’s cereal? It would cost them the same. It would help to minimize a huge risk to toddlers with severe peanut allergies, and go a long way in showing social responsibility and being a giant role model to other manufacturers.

Not to be a jerk, but everyone who’s saying “well then dont buy it” is ignorant! It’s not a matter of “oh man, now I might buy something my kids allergic to” it’s a matter of other kids carrying little bags of cheerios offering and sharing with other kids. Now we have to teach our peanut allergic children to fear all cheerios unless we see the exact box it came out of. Now I have to tell my friends that their kids cant eat their cheerios in my house or while my son is around.

Like anything else. Teach your children how to avoid and not eat things they shouldn’t.

I don’t understand this “sudden rise” in the number of peanut allergies in the past 20 years or so. Peanuts have been cultivated for nearly 3,000 years and peanut butter was invented around 1890.
So, why are the allergies popping up now? It must be the poor food choices that humans are making today, breaking down our immune systems.

Personally, I like peanut butter in just about everything. It is nutritious and tastes good. Banning it would be a bad idea. Far more children die in traffic accidents. But we don’t ban cars, school buses and other forms of transportation. Parents have no problem letting their children ride school buses, but make a big fuss over peanut butter. Life has risks, it is up to us to minimize those risks.

I am sure that some parents would love to ban peanuts and peanut products outright. So, a bunch of farmers will go out of business, companies will lose profits and probably the unemployment rate will go even higher. What will these children do when they get older? How will they cope in the real world? So I guess the only choice that we have is to have a worldwide ban on peanuts. Sad indeed…

Sigh…..another display of the public’s pure lack of knowledge and understanding about food allergies.

How will these children cope in the real world? Let me tell you. Every single day they are faced with adversity, barriers, intolerance and more. You don’t think other kids don’t notice Johnny cannot eat some of the foods at a party? You don’t think kids are bullied because they are different? Lets think about this. Read alot of the comments above. They even have to deal with the intolerance and lack of understanding from adults.

These kids face more challenges than most, yet most turn out to be happy, healthy, and productive members of society. The thought that these children are protected from the big bad wolf is obsurd. So yes indeed it is so sad in this day and age we still have a complete lack of knowledge and compassion for those facing and overcoming this disability.

And no I don’t want to ban peanuts. What I do want is a safe environment for all children, disability or no disability. And to go with it some public education. Tolerance never killed anyone.

Then don’t buy them…geez

About the only thing I can say at this moment, and perhaps it already has judging by the numerous postings (I have not read them all in detail), but the words PEANUT BUTTER are pretty big and bold on the front of the Cheerio box.

As an aside, my grandson goes to a “peanut-free” school. A kid cannot even bring something for his own snack or lunch with peanuts or peanut butter or whatever in it because some other kid might smell it and fall over with an allergic reaction. There are no other allergy restrictions at the school and I am sure other kids with other food allergies that deal with them appropriately. To me, this is totally stupid.

I’m sorry but since when is an allergy a disability? Not having a leg or arm or being blind is a disabilty NOT having to avoid some foods…. No wonder this country is going to heck in a hurry.

From my perspective, Honey NUT Cheerios have been around for years. There are many children and adults with nut allergies too. The same risk of life threatening allergic reaction is there if a child shares a Honey Nut Cheerio with a nut allergy child (or adult). Why the uproar over the new peanut butter flavor? The potential confusion and risk has been there for a long time for those with nut allergies. As a Mom of a nut allergy child, it is something we work with daily. Now those with peanut allergies need to be aware too. It is too bad that another food has to be monitored for cross contamination, but for Cheerios this isn’t news to this nut allergy family.

I think some of the insensitive comments posted at the top were made by people who only read the title and not the article. No one is saying peanuts should be banned everywhere from everyone. For young kids in daycare and schools where the parent can’t be around to watch what they put in there mouth it is worrisome. Parents do teach there kids to be careful with foods they are allergic to, but some are too young to understand what could happen.

I tasted them and I LOVE them!!! If parents have children with peanut butter allergies, then they need to tell their children that they can’t eat Cheerios!!! I will be buying these in pairs anyway!!! THEY TASTE FANTASTICC!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, I’m getting that the main concern is that parents put the cheerios in to baggies and the kids don’t know what kind they are and they share. Well, coudn’t that happen with ANY food? Cookies, cereal, snack crackers, candy? Even candies that appear to be nut free could have been on the same line…even if it’s one you have always known and trusted-it could be a look a like off brand but since it’s in a baggie…who would know? And how many toddlers try and share their goldfish with celiac kids? I think the key is to not only educate the kids on absolutly not taking any food that didn’t come from home and the schools/teachers. Lots of schools have “allergy” tables now. As to the comment about there will be undiagnosed babies having reactions….ok, babies are given cheerios by their parents. If the parents only buy the original in the yellow box…no risk of reaction, as from what I have heard, the company has very rigid cross contamination policies in place. Think about celiacs…they have to consider that with every product since wheat is in everything and if its not, it’s produced at a company that produces products with wheat. Cheerios are not gluten free but there are gluten free ones that look just like cheerios sooooo, same problem. But people aren’t freaking out saying you have to change the shape of the gluten free cheerio look alikes cause a toddler might not know its not the same gluten free cereal. The gluten free and regular rice krispies look alike. All I’m saying is, pick your battles. I don’t think this one is worth it.