By Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Have a box of Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios in your pantry? General Mills is recalling nearly 2 million boxes of those cereals because some products labeled "gluten-free" may contain wheat flour. Here's what you need to know:
1. Which products are included? The recall covers 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at the company's Lodi, California, plant, ABC News reports. The affected products include Honey Nut Cheerios boxes with "better if used by" dates of July 12-25, 2016, and Cheerios boxes with "better if used by" dates of July 14-17, 2016. Look for the factory code "LD" at the end of those dates – i.e., 17JUL2016LD. Learn more here.
<< RELATED: Cheerios announces recall >>
2. Why are they being recalled? According to the Cheerios website, an incident at the Lodi facility "allowed wheat flour to enter our gluten-free oat-based system. As a result, original and Honey Nut Cheerios produced on several dates may contain wheat and were wrongly labeled gluten-free." Those products "could cause severe reactions or illness in people with wheat allergies, celiac disease or gluten intolerance," the company said.
3. Has anyone gotten sick? Yes. General Mills said it has directly received two reports of illness and is aware of other complaints online, ABC News reports.
4. I am sensitive to gluten or wheat. What do I do next? Do not eat the cereal. You should contact General Mills at 1-800-775-8370 to get a full refund or replacement.
5. I am not sensitive to gluten or wheat. Is the cereal safe for me to eat? Yes, according to the Cheerios website. "These products would be safe for people without celiac or who are not gluten intolerant or sensitive to wheat or gluten – and that would include most consumers," the company said.
[ Read more here. ]