Corn And Xanthum Gum

[FeedIndy]

I bought a CBK cake mix for my DD's 1st birthday. I was so excited to find one labeled wheat-free, dairy-free and corn free, but I see it has xanthum gum as an ingredient. Isn't that derived from corn and will my apparently corn-allergic child have problems with this cake? I so want her to have cake on her birthday like her sisters had, but not if she's going to spend the weekend sick.

[Guest nini]

off of my bottle of Xanthan Gum:

Xanthan Gum is a soluble fiber produced from the pure culture fermentation of the mircroorganism Xanthomonas Campestris. It is used in the food processing industry as a thickener, stabilizer and emulsifier of a number of different foods.

[Helena]

Corn is used in the fermentation process. But companies that use xanthan gum often still claim it is corn free because no protein is in the final product (So, for instance, Enjoy Life foods is "free from corn" but contains xanthan gum)

I approach claims about "no protein" in the final product with caution . . . they claimed this with refined soy oil and with refined peanut oil and with soya lecithin . . . but studies show that some people do react.

As for which corn-derived ingredients are safe for people with a corn allergy if any? I asked my allergist this question---he says no one knows. Really, I don't think that corn allergy has been studied all that much. You'd be best to check with an allergy forum . . . or with someone on this board with a severe corn allergy. (I have a corn allergy, but I'm not sensitive to minute amounts of corn in, say, milk (in the vitamin A and D preparation) or iodized salt (dextrose). I'd probably be okay with xanthan gum . .. but am not sure.

[Guest alex j]

I read on a food allergy board that though most xanthan gum is grown on corn, there is one manufacturer in the US that grows it on something else (I'm thinking rice, though I'm not sure).

Maybe you could ask Cherrybrook kitchens what their xanthan is grown on. But it could definitely also be listed as corn protein free even if it is grown on corn (like things containing soy oil are listed as soy free).

[Simply-V]

I'd beware of the xanthum gum. it is most likely grown on corn. Depending on how sensitive your daughter is, it could cause some real problems.