General Mills Drops 'Natural' Label From Granola Bars After Lawsuit
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (CBS Local) — As part of a settlement, General Mills will be altering the label of its Nature Valley granola bars.
In the middle of the box, it says the bars are made with "100% natural whole grain oats", however a lawsuit by consumer groups in 2016 claimed tests of General Mills products detected the presence of a weed killer manufactured by Monsanto.
According to the complaint, independent lab tests found more glyphosate in the Nature Valley products than EPA standards allow in grains. "No reasonable consumer, seeing these representations, would expect that the oats or any ingredients in the products to contain something that is unnatural," the lawsuit argued, according to USA Today.
A spokesperson for General Mills said Nature Valley is confident in the accuracy of its label but settled to "avoid the cost and distraction of litigation."
Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup pesticide products. A judge recently ordered the company to pay $289 million to a man who claimed using Roundup caused his terminal cancer.
[H/T CBS Minnesota]