General Mills Expands Gluten-Free Message

It began with the Rice Chex going gluten-free in 2008, now 18 months and several well-labeled gluten-free products later — General Mills appears to be raising the bar on mainstream companies catering to the gluten-free consumer.

General Mills has just launched a new website liveglutenfreely.com.  The company now boasts a list of their gluten-free products and says on this site “look for the words Gluten Free on hundreds of products from General Mills.”  While it sure looks like hundreds on the list, they really are from just a few areas:  Chex cereals, Betty Crocker Mixes and Fruit Rollups (and other similar fruit-ish snacks), Progresso soups, Yoplait and LaraBars. Many of these product lines have been gluten-free (with a few exceptions) for years:  Yoplait, Progresso, Fruit Rollups…But the marketing of the gluten-freeness of their products really seemed to begin in the last year and a half.

Recipe for this GF Chocolate Hazelnut Cake is on the new site

The website also has some gluten-free recipes using its products. We’re all looking for ways to make our gluten free goodies as scrumptious as possible.  So if General Mills can add its two cents that’s great!

So in the last six months, General Mills has launched several types of Gluten Free Chex, Betty Crocker Mixes,  this website, plus they recently  assembled a Gluten-Free Informational Video to raise awareness.  What a big undertaking in a short amount of time.

You should check out this website and the video.  Yes I know that smaller gluten-free companies have been doing this type of thing for years, but I do think there’s something to be said for supporting a huge corporation who has clearly gone out of its way to appeal to the gluten-free market.  Clearly they know we’re out there buying — and they want to tap in to that!  And I think more companies should follow suit.

Kudos to General Mills and its efforts to not only build its brand, but to also raise awareness about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet as well.

Tags: Betty Crocker, Chex, Fruit Rollups, General Mills, gluten-free, Progresso, Yoplait