General Mills Faces New Class Action Over ‘Gluten Free’ Cheerios

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

General Mills has been hit with yet another proposed class action lawsuit claiming that the company falsely advertised its “gluten-free” Cheerios, putting an Oregon man at risk for a severe allergic reaction.

Lead plaintiff Christopher Hamilton claims he suffers from a wheat allergy known as Celiac disease. Hamilton says he purchased General Mills’ “gluten-free” original and honey-nut varieties of Cheerios based on the deceptive label.

“Plaintiff purchased the mislabeled Cheerios in reliance on defendants’ representations that the product was ‘gluten free,’ including those found on the product’s packaging,” the General Mills Cheerios lawsuit states. “Specifically, plaintiff chose to purchase the product at issue because the mislabeled Cheerios were represented as safe for consumption by persons, such as plaintiff, who have celiac disease.”

The Cheerios class action lawsuit cites that the FDA reported receiving 125 adverse health claims regarding “gluten-free” Cheerios. After an investigation, it was discovered that the advertised “gluten-free” Cheerios actually contained 43 parts per million of gluten, which is more than double the federal regulations to deem a product gluten-free.

According to General Mills, the gluten was “inadvertently introduced” into their non-gluten mix system at its Lodi, California facility, which led to the problem. As a result of the gluten contamination, General Mills recalled a reported 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios, including 13 lots of Honey Nut Cheerios and four lots of original Cheerios.

Hamilton is not the only consumer to take issue against General Mills over its alleged aggressive false advertising practices. At least one other class action lawsuit has been filed by a California couple against the company as a result of its massive October 2015 recall.

Additionally, General Mills is facing another putative class action lawsuit in California over claims it falsely marketed its Cheerios Protein cereal products as more healthful option to regular Cheerios.

False advertising lawsuits against food manufactures seem to on the rise, as Kraft Heinz was recently sued in a proposed class action lawsuit over its “100% Grated Parmesan Cheese” allegedly the product’s ingredient includes a wood pulp filler.

Hamilton’s lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who bought the mislabeled Cheerios and a subclass of Oregon consumers under the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act and common law. The General Mills class action lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages as well as restitution on behalf of the proposed class and demands a trial by jury.

Hamilton is represented by Bonner C. Walsh of Walsh LLC and Adam R. Gonnelli of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP.

The “Gluten-Free” Cheerios False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Christopher Hamilton v. General Mills Inc., et al., Case No. 6:16-cv-00382 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

UPDATE: On July 27, 2016, an Oregon federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against General Mills Inc. over a contaminated batch of gluten-free Cheerios.