General Mills Responds.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I wrote to General Mills to tell them that I would no longer be purchasing their foods if they say they contain 0 grams of trans fat on the nutrition label and then list partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients. I must admit, it wasn't an extremely well-crafted letter, the on-line form they give you to write to them is literally about a one inch by three inch block and it's difficult to see what you're writing. I proofread as much as I could but probably could have been a bit more eloquent in my complaint. Anyway, here is their response to me:

Dear Mrs. CityMomma/CountryMomma:

Thank you for contacting General Mills regarding partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, or trans fats.

General Mills supports the new FDA rule providing consumers with more information about trans fats – partially hydrogenated vegetable oils – in their diet. We comply fully with this new rule that went into effect January 1, 2006. Any product requiring such information is appropriately labeled.

We will also continue to pursue new technologies and alternative oils as part of our on-going efforts to improve our products.

Hydrogenated vegetable oils have been popular substitutes for saturated fats, which had previously been known to raise blood cholesterol levels. Only in recent years have studies emerged showing that the potential health effects of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils may be similar to saturated fats.

General Mills is proud to offer a broad portfolio of food products to meet widely varying consumer preferences, and we are constantly looking at new technologies and alternatives to improve our products. New information about trans fats adds to that challenge, but it is an issue we are pursuing.

We appreciate your comments regarding this important issue, and will share them with the appropriate personnel. Thank you for your interest in our products.

Sincerely,

Gwyn Walters
Consumer Services

Basically, all I see is blah, blah, blah but it's not like I was expecting much more. I KNOW that General Mills complies with the FDA regulations on labeling, I said that in my letter but I also said that the FDA regulations are misleading and therefore, so is General Mills, either they didn't understand what I was writing about or they didn't care, probably a little of both.

So anyway, not very exciting but good to note, I won't be purchasing any products containing trans fats any more, whether it's "legally" identified on the label or not. I'm off to write to Edy's ice cream now too.

So there General Mills, no more Raisin Nut Bran for me and no more $4.65 or so every week from me to you.

I'd also like to thank everyone who was interested and left comments on yesterday's post.

Jen, The Son won't eat the PB that has to be mixed, although I'll give it another try, I don't want him eating soybean oil either so thanks for that tip!

Nom, I don't think we have the grind your own PB in our grocery store, I've seen it before, but not around here, I'll keep my eyes open, perhaps he'd like that a little better.