June 22, 2015
General Mills plans to remove all artificial flavors and colors from its cereals over the next two to three years, the company announced Monday.
Currently, about 60 percent of its cereals already are free of artificial flavors or colors from artificial sources. The company hopes to reach 75 percent by January and 90 percent by the end of 2016.
"We’re simply listening to consumers and these ingredients are not what people are looking for in their cereal today," Jim Murphy, president of the cereal division, said in a statement.
"We have great people working on it. You can tell when you have a good idea, when people are working real hard and they’re passionate about it. I couldn’t be more proud to be the leader of the people leading this and watching everyone just make it work."
Murphy said the goal is to make the changes without losing the taste or appearance that customers love. Each cereal will require different changes, however. For example, cereals like Lucky Charms with marshmallows or Trix with a lot of color may take longer.
