Cereal company Kellogg’s has shared that it will no longer use whole rice grains to make its Rice Krispies or Coco Pops products.
A spokesperson for the company explained that corn and rice flours will be used to make the cereals instead.
The move, they said, is intended to “maintain consistent quality at a time when changing weather conditions are affecting the quality and availability of some of the rice and grains used in our cereals”.
This will mean that the packages will include a “contains wheat gluten” warning instead of their existing “may contain gluten” signs, though Rice Krispies’ older recipe, which included barley malt extract, was not gluten-free either.
But Rice Krispies products will continue to meet the UK’s “not high in fat, salt or sugar” (HFSS) standards, and will contain as much fibre, iron, and vitamin D as their predecessors, the company said.
“We appreciate that even small changes to a much-loved product can feel noticeable and that’s why we have approached this with a lot of care and consideration,” Kellogg’s told HuffPost UK.
“The updated recipes have been carefully assessed for taste, appearance and texture, and we are continuing to listen closely to consumer feedback.”
The changed recipe reportedly won’t come into place in the US and Canada.
Zoshua Colah via Unsplash
Rice growth in key countries is already being affected by this year’s “Godzilla” El Niño. In 2026, for instance, India recorded its driest June in 12 years – but its monsoon (heavy rain) season is key for rice production.
Climate-change related conditions in Pakistan drove the price of rice up by a third, while South and South-East Asia has also been hard hit.
The extreme weather event has already brought floods, heatwaves, and drought to areas across the world. And this happened months before its anticipated December peak.
The UK’s Government Office for Science previously said that “although the El Niño event is expected to end in spring 2027, its impacts may continue for several more months” after.
