Food Profile: General Mills

Erica Micele

I.D #0570448

Food Profile: General Mills

        General Mills, Incorporated (Inc.), is an international manufacturer and retailer of consumer foods and a leader in the breakfast cereal industry. Home-based in Minnesota, General Mills was created in 1928 by James Ford Bell as the result of the merger of Washburn Crosby Company with multiple regional millers.  General Mills is divided into 5 business segments: cereals, snacks, meals, baking products, and yogurt/other, and owner of commonly known brands such as Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Cheerios, and Yoplait.  The food items produced by General Mills are mostly processed, and in many cases contain a lot of sugar. Lately however, General Mills has been attempting to become more natural and healthy. Two of their initiatives include transitioning to whole grains in their cereal and reducing the amount of sugar in their children’s cereal. General Mills also acquired Annie’s Inc., to show their dedication to becoming healthier.  Annie’s Inc. takes pride in using natural ingredients as an organic food producing company. I chose to research General Mills due to a recent concern brought to my attention. I read on Facebook that popular General Mills cereal, Lucky Charms, includes Trisodium Phosphate as an ingredient, so I read the label and it does contain trisodium phosphate. Trisodium Phosphate is also used as a cleaning agent, stain remover, and degreaser. It was surprising to me that there are no regulations on such things, but maybe it has to do with lobbying.

        According to the time the website opensecrets.org was last updated, General Mills spent $1,420,000 on lobbying in 2015. In the past ten years the amount of money General Mills has spent on lobbying has increased drastically, from $640,000 in 2005 to a peak of $2,750,000 in 2014. General mills spent the second highest amount in lobbying for the food and sales industry in 2014, with Grocery Manufacturers Association taking the lead by spending $4,620,347. Although some of the increase can be attributed to the value of the dollar, the increase is indeed staggering and warrants the question of why.

        The top four areas that General Mills is hoping to influence include the food industry, transportation, trade, and agriculture. Their first interest in the food industry is obvious due to the fact that General Mills is a company that produces a variety of food items such as cereal, baking mixes, and candy. For General Mills and similar companies, transportation is also really important for the successfulness of the company. General Mills distributes their products throughout the whole country and globally as well. Without access to transportation General Mills would only be able to distribute their products close to where their factories are located. Because of General Mill’s interest in distributing their products internationally, trade is also an important area of interest and profit. It is important that General Mills is able to export to their international markets. The fourth issue, agriculture, is important for General Mills in order to get what they need to make the food they sell. The cheaper General Mills can buy the ingredients they use to produce the food; the more profit the company can make.