General Mills cereals removing artificial flavours and colourings

General Mills cereals has announced its commitment to removing artificial flavours and colours from artificial sources from its US cereal brands.

 Today, more than 60% of General Mills cereals are already made without artificial flavours and colours from artificial sources.

 “At General Mills cereals, we have been upgrading the nutrition and ingredients in our cereals for years to meet people’s needs and desires,” said Jim Murphy, president of the General Mills cereal division. “We’ve continued to listen to consumers who want to see more recognisable and familiar ingredients on the labels and challenged ourselves to remove barriers that prevent adults and children from enjoying our cereals.”

90% of General Mills cereals portfolio to be free of artificial flavours and colours by end of 2016

General Mills cereals plans to have more than 90% of the portfolio free of artificial flavours and colours from artificial sources by the end of 2016.

Trix and Reese’s Puffs will be among the first of the remaining brands to change. Trix will now use ingredients like fruit and vegetable juices and spice extracts such as turmeric and annatto to achieve the red, yellow, orange and purple colours. Reese’s Puffs will continue to use peanut butter and cocoa and incorporate natural vanilla flavour to maintain the taste that customers are familiar with.

“We have a lot of hard work ahead of us and we know some products will present challenges as we strive to uphold the taste, quality and fun in every spoonful of cereal,” acknowledged Kate Gallager, General Mills cereal developer. “Cereals that contain marshmallows, like Lucky Charms, may take longer, but we are committed to finding a way to keep the magically delicious taste as we work to take out the artificial flavours and colours from artificial sources.”