General Mills officials announced on Monday that it will remove artificial colors and flavors from all of its flagship cereal brands by the end of 2017.
The company owns Cheerios, Trix, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and others.
"With cereal being in 90% of households today, we want to make changes like this so it will be on tables for the next 100 years," General Mills wellness manager Lauren Pradhan told the Los Angeles Times.
Although the company revealed that most of its cereal brands currently do not contain artificial colors and flavors, it is working to revise those which do. The move is a response to changing consumer demands in favor of healthier food options.
A General Mills-organized survey conducted by Nielsen found that 49 percent of households are attempting to avoid artificial colors and flavors, the Los Angeles Times also reports.
"They need to be investing, they need to be changing out their product lines with better ingredients and they need to do it very quickly," General Mills official Jim Murphy told USA Today.
"In the next two to three years, if you're not moving in the right direction you're going to see those brands fading rapidly into obscurity."
The company is based in Minneapolis.
