You may want to check out http://corn-freefoods.blogspot.com -- Avoiding corn is a big challenge, and not everything on the list is going end up being safe, but it should give you a good place to start.

Corn Allergy Info:
Cornallergens.com is a great place to start, but you’ll want to head to http://forums.delphiforums.com/AvoidingCorn for better information. There’s also no-corn.blogspot.com and corn-freefoods.blogspot.com

I actually make my marshmallows with a simple syrup (sugar + water heated to softball) since I’m allergic to corn syrup.. they’re fantastic, and work well as marshmallows if I manage to not eat it all before it sets. :)

I also add flavors and coat them with various things such as superfine sugar (think peeps), cocoa, or my favorite cinnamon (taste like red hots).

I actually make my marshmallows with a simple syrup (sugar + water heated to softball) since I’m allergic to corn syrup.. they’re fantastic, and work well as marshmallows if I manage to not eat it all before it sets. :)

“And as bacon is cited as the food that causes most vegetarians to lapse, that can only be a good thing.”

That could be debated, and has been to death.

As for trying the bacon salt myself, no thanks. While I’m allergic to pork, so I’m bacon-free myself. And the flavoring might taste good now then sprinkled on a steak.

The fact that it contains MSG in one version, and chemical flavorings in both (yes even natural flavorings can be a chemical flavoring) is enough to keep me away like the plague. If for no other reason than I have a corn allergy and 99% sure it’ll contain corn.

I guess I’m a believer in real food, and I thought this place was too.

A not bacon. Artificially flavored “food science” chemical salt recommended on Culinate? Really?

This is the first I’ve seen something like this on here, and really makes me loose respect for this site. Let’s just start making cakes from boxes too.

Love Love Love this article. While I have severe & amazingly multiple food allergens (I’ve got about 7 safe foods to play with), this article does really well at explaining things & letting people know the intricacies of food prep for allergies. It encourages open communication while letting the host know that we’re not trying to be difficult or offensive.

I also would love it if more people put ingredient lists on their foods. It’s really a great idea.

I love & hate WF’s. But that has little to do with their prices. I usually end up there at least once a week, mostly for produce not available at my farmers markets, or items not carried elsewhere in town. I have multiple food allergies including corn, so choices are extremely limited.

I shop with this higherarchy: Farmers Markets, Costco, conventional grocery, local HFS or Mom & Pop grocery, Whole Foods.

No Trader Joes here, or the other stores mentioned above, so WF’s is pretty much it for some items. But I hate WF’s, cuz they’ll say one thing then do another. Like they keep promising that they’re taking corn allergies in consideration when selecting products to carry, then turn right around and discontinue a corn-free item in order to replace it with a relatively exact same thing but with corn added.

Thank you so much for this! I have a corn allergy & finding drink recipes and mixes w/o corny ingredients is nearly impossible. But your suggestions here are awesome & so simple that it’s going to really give me some great cocktail options! Thanks so much! Bottoms Up! :)

I’ve never liked Rachel Ray, because to me it was never cooking but more of “look what I can mix together”. Which creativity in cooking is great, but I wouldn’t really call RR a chef.

I used to actually watch a lot more cooking shows than I do now. Now I find that cooking shows are only useful if they’re making something from scratch that I have absolutely no idea what to do with, or what it is.. like taro root, or artichokes, or something.

Otherwise, A good cookbook is much much more useful, plus you don’t get inundated with commercials for useless or unhealthy mass produced salt laden fat laden crud. :)

We still have cable, and we still watch it (on the DVR - aka skipping commercials), but if it came down to a choice between healthy ingredients or affording cable.. the cable will loose. (besides most of the good shows are on the internet anyway). :)

Susan.. most fresh and frozen (plain) veggies are going to be “low corn”. They won’t be 100% corn-free as generally they’re washed or waxed with corn derivatives, but its not a big corn load (unless you’re allergic).

The Ezekiel breads are mostly corn-free. I’m unsure of the yeast, but they’re really low corn.
The corn-free foods blog has a list of corn-free foods if you’re interested.

Thanks so much for posting about this. Life with a corn allergy definitely isn’t fun and because of the proliferation of corn in the American (and world) diet, it can be a horribly isolating condition one that very few people can fully grasp.

So thanks for understanding and helping the rest of the world become educated in the plight of people with this allergy.

Local foods are not just in New England. I know there are several places across the nation that support local farming/food supply.

I live in Austin, and the support here for locally grown food is really taking off. There is even a grocery delivery startup that delivers local produce & meats.

To find sources of local fare (and often corn-free though you’ll have to inquire) - eatwild.com and localharvest.org are good places to start looking. For meats, you may want to inquire at a local butchery for names of local farmers or suggestions. Or if you know of any hunters, some of them may be willing to hunt for you or split their “kills” with you. (I know hunting sounds bad, but its better than overpopulation and the poor animals getting hit by cars because they’re hunting for food.)

Kevin,

As someone who grew up in “Corn Country” and still visits family there, I can tell you that we’ve already put a lot of our farmers “on welfare” as you put it. Many farmers have already lost their farms to big Agriculture (corn farming). I grew up in a booming farm town, which is now mostly a vague shadow of its former self.. and its not just that town but many towns around it. Farming isn’t farmers anymore, its corporations.

Corn as a food stuff as prepared way back when by the “pre-Columbian civilization” (as you put it) would probably be a healthy grain. Unfortunately today’s corn is so messed with, that you can hardly call many of it’s derivatives “healthy”.

What most of us are really irritated with about the corn farming today, is that our tax dollars are used for subsidies and tax breaks for the overproduction and usage of corn. Corn is no longer on the demand/supply price scale to which many healthy vegetable products are subjected. So producers get quite a price cut buying corn, because the subsidies keep the price low so its cheap to use, giving corn an unfair advantage over other crops which would have been used instead.

Many of the derivatives of corn can be made just as well from other grains/sources, not just petroleum. The areas that grow corn in the USA, can just as well grow soy, wheat, barley, or various other crops which can also feed people and be made into ethanol. These crops actually can directly feed people better than the corn thats being grown today.

Corn has many uses, so why does it need our tax dollars to keep it afloat? Corn is expensive to grow vs many other crops which can have similar uses. So basically what we’re doing is throwing our money at a bad investment.

The food industry in this country really needs a good overhaul, and today is the day to start it.

Lara Bars would probably work for most people on this challenge as a quickfood.. unfortunately for the corn allergic the almonds are raised in a corn-laden farm area and have been found to have some remaining corn proteins/pollens on them.. so they may cause a reaction.

For those that don’t have a corn allergy, and all this corn-avoidance is new to you. First to understand, you have to put yourself in a completely paranoid state. Everything you touch, smell, eat, breathe, etc may be corn at any time without warning (which can lead to ER visits, being so sick you wish you were in the ER, or just a mild temporary cold).

Corn isn’t labeled very well on foods, and companies can use corn-based products as processing aids and not label it. Which has happened with wheat flours, one company “cleans” their equipment with corn meal between batches. Plastic wrappers can be laced with corn starch to make the conveyor belt packing simpler... so what might have been a safe product is now laced with corn starch due to the packaging.

Companies can change packaging or formulations at any time, so what might be safe one day, isn’t the next.

Places you go can be the same way, think of how many places you know that pop popcorn either with a popcorn machine or microwave. Most of us have to avoid those places like the plague, some can get by going in with a mask and benadryl.

A grocery store I used to frequent sold fully cooked rotisserie chickens. They pumped the chicken full of added flavorings (corn), and the entire store smelled of cooked chicken. I could be in the store a whole 5 minutes before I started reacting.

Air fresheners (especially any aerosol), toilet paper, soaps, laundry soaps, cleaning supplies, shampoo/conditioner, cosmetics, hairspray. (Try being in a woman’s public bathroom with a corn allergy.) Even clothing is being made from corn now, pillows, blankets, mattresses.

Airbags are often packed with corn starch to keep them from catching when they blow. Which leaves lots of corn starch all over the passengers.

Houses now are made with corn. Corn carpets, some vinyl tiles, glue, drywall.. all corn. Even wood is often treated with a corn-based pre-treatment. Sad to think that putting a simple nail into drywall to hand a picture can be hazardous for some of us.

The thing is, going truely corn-free in the USA is nearly impossible, unless you’re living in the mountains somewhere with your water dripping off an old glacier and you’re completely self-sufficient in growing your own foods and making your own products.

Most of us, do the best we can, but slip-ups are bound to happen. We just hope to keep them small and far between.

And as such, we are paranoid.. but we have good reasons. What is that saying.. just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that the world isn’t out to get you?

Sam - Watch out you might just get what you ask for :) Most of us corn-allergics love to talk, so we might just write your eyes off. :)

It does seem phenomenal how much corn is in our diets, products,etc.. its soooo “useful” and yet taxpayers each year shell out money to grow corn, tax incentives for companies to make stuff out of corn, grants to find more uses for corn.. just so we can then pay money for the products.

You would think that as “useful” as corn is, that it should be able to standup to supply and demand. Unfortunately, though corn is too pricey to grow and corn syrup is too costly to make.. that if companies had to pay a demand price for corn, they’d soon switch to something else.

I’m really tired of tax dollars going to produce more corn & corn products. Especially since I’m corn allergic, and don’t really benefit from any of it.

I hope they (eggs) weren’t washed in a corn-based detergent. If they’re purely corn-free, I think you’ll find a permanent market for them, as more and more people are being diagnosed with a corn allergy every year.

Vegans and Vegetarians might have an easier time if they’re used to only eating dried & some canned beans, and even in that they’ll need to be really selective. A lot of tofu has corn additives/preservatives, and vegan cheese contains corn. Almost all of our fresh veggies and fruits are washed with corn derivatives, waxed in corn wax, or gas-ripened with corn-based gas. Almost all of our canned fruits are canned with corn derivatives. Most condiments contain corn, even vegan ones. So I really don’t think any diet out there has an advantage in this, except those already on a corn-free diet.

Oh and I forgot to mention that enriched products (flours/pastas/milks/juices) contain corn.