Minneapolis, MN – While products such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Original Cheerios are already without artificial flavors and coloring, General Mills Cereals has announced Monday that they plan to remove artificial sources from the rest of their products, according to a press release.

A recent Nielsen survey determined that roughly 49% of households are attempting to avoid artificial flavors and coloring all together. To aid in this attempt, General Mills will begin to use ingredients that they deem are “more recognizable” and “familiar.”

“At General Mills Cereals, we have been upgrading the nutrition and ingredients in our cereals for years to meet people's needs and desires,” said Jim Murphy, president of the General Mills cereal division. “We’ve continued to listen to consumers who want to see more recognizable and familiar ingredients on the labels and challenged ourselves to remove barriers that prevent adults and children from enjoying our cereals.”

Trix and Reese’s Puffs will be the first products that will receive a changed recipe. For Trix, the company will replace the red, yellow, orange and purple colors with” fruit and vegetable juices and spice extracts such as turmeric and annatto,” according to the release. While cocoa and peanut butter will still be used in the Reese’s Puffs, a natural vanilla flavor will be incorporated into the product. These updated products can be expected in stores by the end of the year.

The company says they plan to have more than 90% of their products free from artificial flavors and coloring by the end of 2016.

Posted on WholeFoodsMagazine.com 6/23/2015