General Mills says going GMO free has done nothing to
improve sales of its Cheerios breakfast cereal.
The company declared about a month ago that its “original
Cheerios” would have no genetically-modified ingredients.
That ruled out corn sweetener and a few other minor
ingredients. The main ingredient is oats and there are no GMO oats grown in
North America.
General Mills says it won’t be pursuing the GMO-free market
with any other products.
Its several other varieties of Cheerios were not involved in
the GMO-free marketing campaign.
The General Mills experience is being closely watched by
other food processors and retailers who must now be wondering if the anti-GMO
movement is restricted to a small number of people who capture a lot of media
attention.