Cheerios Lawsuit Says Cereals Contain Dangerous Levels of Chemical Pesticide

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General Mills faces a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges Cheerios, unbeknownst to consumers, contain “dangerous levels” of the chemical pesticide chlormequat chloride, which can be harmful to human health even at very low levels. 

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The 13-page Cheerios lawsuit says that the chlormequat chloride found in the world-famous cereal has been linked to fetal growth issues and nervous system issues, among other adverse health effects. The Cheerios case was filed in California on February 23, three days after Quaker Oats was hit with a lawsuit that alleged a number of its granola, oatmeal and Chewy products contained the same harmful pesticide, which is used to control plant size by blocking growth hormones. 

According to the Cheerios lawsuit, independent lab analysis has revealed that the following General Mills cereals have tested positive for the presence of chlormequat, with levels of the chemical ranging from 40 to more than 100 parts per billion: 

• Cheerios;
• Honey Nut Cheerios;
• Frosted Cheerios; and
• Oat Crunch Oats N’ Honey Cheerios. 

When chlormequat is applied to growing oat and grain crops, the chemical stops them from bending over, thus improving the harvesting process, the case relays. If ingested, chlormequat can “reduce fertility and harm [a] developing fetus,” even at doses lower than those allowed by regulatory agencies, the lawsuit states. Further, the pesticide has been shown to “delay puberty and impair the reproductive functions in mammals,” the filing says.

Neither the Cheerios packaging nor product labels list chlormequat as an ingredient in the cereal, and consumers are not warned about the potential inclusion of the pesticide in the products at issue, the complaint states. 

Per the suit, the scientist-run nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) recommends a “health benchmark” of just 30 parts per billion of chlormequat per day. 

“The levels of chlormequat found in Cheerios far exceeds this recommended threshold amount,” the lawsuit summarizes. 

The plaintiffs, a married San Marcos, California couple with four children all younger than 13, say that they have bought Cheerios regularly for many years “in reliance on the brand’s image among consumers as a healthy, safe food product.” Consumers rely on the Cheerios label and ingredients list to accurately inform them of the components and ingredients of the product, and they would not have bought Cheerios had General Mills “accurately disclosed the presence of chlormequat,” the case reads. 

“[N]o reasonable consumer would ever expect that a food product—especially one heavily marketed to children and families—would contain dangerous pesticides,” the filing insists. “Plaintiffs and Class Members have suffered economic injuries as a result of purchasing the Products.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all consumers in California who have bought any of the Cheerios products listed on this page within the last four years. 

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