Corn Sensitivity

[amy2011]

Hello all -

I am sensitive to corn and just wondering from those who have been at this a while, what ingredients do I need to watch out for? Besides the obvious "modified corn starch"....

thanks in advance!

Amy

[cassP]

Hello all -

I am sensitive to corn and just wondering from those who have been at this a while, what ingredients do I need to watch out for? Besides the obvious "modified corn starch"....

thanks in advance!

Amy

High Fructose Corn Syrup, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Corn Syrup Solids, Sorbitol.... um there's more i cant remember.

i try to just avoid or severly limit anything from corn.

there's probably more... like some powdered sugar has corn starch i think. idk.. i cant avoid it completely- cause it's in medication and my coffee creamer.. but i do my best

[jenngolightly]

Hello all -

I am sensitive to corn and just wondering from those who have been at this a while, what ingredients do I need to watch out for? Besides the obvious "modified corn starch"....

thanks in advance!

Amy

My biggest surprise was that vanilla extract has corn syrup in it. Geesh. You have to read EVERY label, just like with gluten.

[T.H.]

It depends on how sensitive to corn you are.

For the really sensitive:

ALL iodized salt - corn is used to stabilize the iodine. You'll need to get a liquid supplement or add a lot of fish or seaweed to your diet.

xanthan gum is derived from corn

citric acid is often cc with corn (it's a byproduct of bacteria that is fed corn syrup, and the corn syrup isn't always completely broken down)

Most medication uses corn or corn derived ingredients, including IV substances like dextrose and glucose

Honey - often cut with corn syrup (sometimes fraudulently, without adding the info. to the label). Or, if the bees are fed corn syrup (a common practice), corn will still be present in low levels in the honey

Anything powdered - you'll have to check if they added cornstarch to help keep it separated

yeast - you'll need to check with the yeast company to see if the starch they add just before drying was corn based or not. So this would encompass all vinegars, fermented alcohols, gluten-free breads, etc... (even distilled vinegar. It's not distilled after the yeast is added)

baking powder - it will either have corn or potato starch added, but usually corn. If baking powder is all that's listed on a label, you can usually assume corn.

Some of the sprays used on tomatoes have corn additives.

Fake snow, and that special ice used in the produce section for things like broccoli, tend to have corn cellulose added because it helps them melt more slowly.

I'd suggest taking a look at a corn allergy blog, like Living Corn Free - they tend to have tons of helpful information on what to look for.

One problem with being corn sensitive is that manufacturers really milk the 'no detectable corn' for their products. Last time I heard numbers (and it's been over a year now), tests to detect corn were less sensitive than tests to detect gluten. So it's entirely possible to react to levels that are lower than the tests can detect. The 'corn free' label doesn't mean there were no corn derived ingredients. It just means they tested below a certain level of corn. :-(