Cinnamon Toast Crunch ingredients: what's banned overseas?

About Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Cinnamon Toast Crunch is one of the best-selling cereals in the US, produced by General Mills. It features wheat and rice squares with a cinnamon-sugar coating and has been a top-10 cereal by sales for decades. The brand has extended into snack bars, Cinnadust seasoning, and other products. It is sold at all major US grocery chains and mass retailers.

Common concerns with Cinnamon Toast Crunch products

General Mills confirmed directly to independent food researchers that Cinnamon Toast Crunch uses Class IV caramel color in the US formula, which produces 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) — a substance flagged as a probable carcinogen under California's Prop 65. General Mills committed to removing artificial dyes from its cereal portfolio in 2025, but caramel color and BHT in the packaging (which migrates into the product) remained concerns as of 2026.