General Mills Boasts 200+ Gluten Free Products

The availability of gluten-free products has significantly improved over the past few years. Stores such as Whole Foods Market have extensive displays of gluten-free foods, but the niche also has gone mainstream, with gluten-free products by such major manufacturers as General Mills and Anheuser-Busch.

General Mills ventured into the gluten-free market because several employees and their relatives had gluten intolerance. Dena Larson, marketing manager for the baking products division of General Mills, which owns Betty Crocker, said what struck the staff was that gluten-sensitive people were excluded from the “sweet moments of life — family moments sharing a cake, being able to reward your son with a cookie when he gets off the bus. Those are the things we take for granted, but it’s emotional to have those things taken away from you.”

Development of the products moved swiftly — “because we were very targeted” — and they were introduced in June of 2009. Increased awareness also spurred General Mills to create a website highlighting their gluten free products. www.LiveGlutenFreely.com lists more than 200 products under the brand names Yoplait, Progresso, Betty Crocker, Larabar, and Chex – and according to General Mills – more are in the pipeline.