June 26 (Reuters) - Cheerios cereal maker General Mills posted a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales on Wednesday, as cash-strapped consumers cut back on its higher-margin products and turned to cheaper alternatives.

The company's quarterly net sales fell to $4.71 billion from $5.03 billion a year ago. Analysts, on average, had expected sales of $4.85 billion, according to LSEG data. (Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)