Once again, it looks like Cheerios is in hot water instead of cold milk.

A class-action lawsuit against General Mills was filed in U.S. District Court a few weeks ago, alleging the company used “deceptive, unfair and false advertising” to sell gluten-free Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios.Turns out, it might actually be true. About 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios were recalled after investigators discovered more than 20 parts per million of gluten in violation of an FDA standard.The FDA, of course, sets all kinds of rules and has enough bureaucracy to drive people bananas.But in this case, it appears the cereal was, indeed, exposed to gluten cross-contamination. It seems oat flour required in making Cheerios was transported in trucks that had previously been used to haul wheat flour, according to General Mills. An unintentional mistake.So it appears the lawsuit has merit.Cheerios has become the renegade of breakfast foods.Just a few years ago, Cheerios was scolded by the FDA for allegedly making false claims that the cereal helped to lower a person’s cholesterol level.In essence, this turned Cheerios into a medicine, said the FDA.This, of course, means all of us are criminals.For instance, if you told a friend to eat Cheerios for health reasons, then you were essentially prescribing a drug. Taken to extreme, you were practicing medicine without a license.Not to mention that we Cheerios lovers have been eating illegal drugs for breakfast, which makes us hard-core breakfast criminals, as ugly as Frankenberry.But let’s face it, we’re really only victims of General Mills’ advertising.Cheerios claims are printed on the box, but do folks really pay attention?As for me, I never really put much stock in what the box says. Sadly, lies in advertising are commonplace. We’ve grown accustomed to deceit.And so maybe Cheerios claims are false. But so what? Cheerios isn’t the only cereal that potentially misleads us.The leprechaun from Lucky Charms has been telling us for years that its cereal is “magically delicious.”So I tried eating Lucky Charms and found out I do like the taste. I’d call it delicious. But not magically delicious.There’s nothing magical about it. That’s false advertising.I eventually finished the contents of the entire box of Lucky Charms yet failed to find the pot of gold pictured on the front. More false advertising.It’s enough to make me cry tears as big as Puffed Rice.Truth is, government has a way of making criminals out of all of us and our cereal.Government is often bad when it tries to do our thinking. And when government becomes too big, priorities become skewed.Focus becomes blurred and mission misguided.The result can turn the innocent into guilty by association. When that happens, government sows seeds of injustice.So why is the FDA playing Trix on us? Don’t they know Trix are for kids?I hope things turn out OK for Cheerios.It just doesn’t seem fair to see such turmoil over a breakfast cereal.And certainly there should be other priorities when it comes to law enforcement and regulation.Heroin dealers can find a good lawyer and get away scot-free.But we Cheerios junkies will be found guilty and probably will do hard time, sentenced in a snap, crackle and pop.Our only hope may be to find a relative to bake a cake with a hacksaw hidden inside. Maybe Aunt Jemima will help us out.I’m a product of the 1950s, a much simpler time.And I sometimes marvel at today’s society — completely overregulated. We definitely live in a nanny state.It’s enough to make a person hotter than a burned Pop-Tart.For the most part, government should stay out of our kitchen cabinets and out of our cereal boxes.We have the right to be left alone. We’re entitled to the freedom of eating breakfast in peace.It’s crunchtime. Let’s tell the FDA to L’eggo our Eggo.Long overdue.So let’s be serious and not waffle over it.