General Mills Inc. is launching 50 new products, including Nature Valley breakfast biscuits and Fiber One nutrition bars.

As it enters the second half of its fiscal year, the Golden Valley-based packaged food company Thursday released details of the new lineup.

Innovation is the lifeblood of foodmakers, and it's particularly important now as General Mills copes with stagnant U.S. sales. The company typically launches products in two waves, one at the beginning of its fiscal year, the second at the midpoint. Earlier in its 2014 fiscal year, General Mills trotted out 100 new products.

Many of the items unveiled Thursday are snacks, which is one of the hottest categories in packaged food.

The shelf-stable breakfast biscuits are a first for the Nature Valley brand. Fiber One, a brand that crosses cereal and snack bars, will come out with its first nutrition bar, the Fiber One Meal Bar.

Other new items include YoplaitLight Dessert Mix-Ins, which come with a serving of yogurt and a separate pack of topping such as graham cracker or chocolate cookie "crumbles;" and Chex Mix Popped, which blends in popcorn with traditional Chex Mix.

The company's Cheerios gets a new variant called "dark chocolate crunch," and its Food Should Taste Good ­tortilla chips will get two new flavors: guacamole and kimchee.

Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003