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Before you dive into the below content, I’ve created a video for you addressing the issues with corn and what it means to be corn-free. Click the PLAY button below to get started.

 

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Corn is hidden in many things other than corn tortilla chips, popcorn, and cereals and may be harmful to some people who are corn-free because they have celiac disease or cannot tolerate gluten. Corn and gluten sensitivities tend to overlap in their symptoms when it comes to our health issues.  For those who cannot eat gluten, like oats, there is a risk of cross-contamination of gluten into the corn crop. Therefore, corn and gluten-free go hand n’ hand for many of us.

So many processed foods in our society contain GMO corn and deplete our gut (stomach) of good bacteria whose job is to help our keep us healthy and help with digestion. Throughout the past few years, there has sadly been a rise in GMO corn which our bodies cannot digest and process completely. Corn is used in a host of processed foods and corn allergies/sensitivities are hard to diagnose. Working with an Integrative or Functional M.D. through an elimination diet may be your best way to know if you are reacting to corn.

Here are a few ingredients, foods and supplies to avoid when living a corn-free lifestyle.

What are other names for corn?

  • Corn flour
  • Corn fritters
  • Corn oil
  • Cornmeal
  • Corn puffs cereal
  • Corn starch
  • Corn sugar
  • Corn chips
  • Corn gluten
  • Corn extract
  • Corn flakes
  • Corn syrup
  • Corn syrup solids
  • Popcorn
  • Corn meal
  • Corn alcohol
  • Cornstarch
  • Corn flour
  • Corn tortillas
  • Corn sweetener
  • Grits
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Hominy
  • Hydrolyzed corn
  • Hydrolyzed corn protein
  • Maize
  • Modified corn starch
  • Polenta
  • Tamales
  • Taco shells
  • Vegetable oil
  • Zea mays
  • Zein

What products may contain corn?

These items may contain Corn & Vegetable Oils, Corn Starch and Corn Syrup:

  • Commercial soups
  • Peanut butter
  • Cold cuts and deli meats
  • Ham
  • Hotdogs
  • Sausages
  • Breaded or fried foods
  • Cheese
  • Chili
  • Chop suey
  • Chow mein
  • Cheese spreads
  • Fish sticks
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Canned vegetables
  • Succotash
  • Pork and beans
  • Creamed vegetables
  • Bread
  • Graham crackers
  • Baking mixes
  • Pancakes
  • Pancake syrup
  • English muffins
  • Gravy
  • Salad dressing
  • Canned fruit
  • Frozen fruit
  • Dates
  • Ice cream
  • Sherbet
  • Chocolate milk
  • Milk shakes
  • Soy milks
  • Eggnog
  • Whiskey, beer, American wines and ale
  • Carbonated beverages such as soda
  • Lemonade
  • Instant coffees
  • Powdered sugar
  • Jams and jellies
  • Candies
  • Catsup
  • Chewing gums
  • Sauces
  • White distilled vinegar
  • Monosodium glutamate
  • Baking powder
  • Cake yeast
  • Bleached flour
  • Gelatin capsules

Do paper containers and plastics contain corn? 

These are common products that you should check to make sure they are corn-free:

  • Boxes
  • Cups
  • Plates
  • Milk or ice cream cartons
  • Adhesives from envelopes, stickers and stamps
  • Toothpaste
  • Over the counter and prescription medications
  • Laundry starch

What ingredients can indicate there is corn in a product?

  • Acetic acid
  • Alcohol
  • Alpha tocopherol
  • Artificial flavorings
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Ascorbates
  • Ascorbic acid
  • Aspartame
  • Astaxanthin
  • Baking powder
  • Barley malt
  • Bleached flour
  • Blended sugar
  • Brown sugar
  • Calcium citrate
  • Calcium fumarate
  • Calcium gluconate
  • Calcium lactate
  • Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA)
  • Calcium stearate
  • Calcium stearoyl lactylate
  • Caramel and caramel color
  • Carbonmethylcellulose sodium
  • Cellulose microcrystalline
  • Cellulose, methyl
  • Cellulose, powdered
  • Cetearyl glucoside
  • Choline chloride
  • Citric acid
  • Citrus cloud emulsion (CCS)
  • Coco glycerides (cocoglycerides)
  • Confectioners sugar
  • Crosscarmellose sodium
  • Crystalline dextrose
  • Crystalline fructose
  • Cyclodextrin
  • DATUM (dough conditioner)
  • Decyl glucoside
  • Decyl polyglucose
  • Dextrin
  • Dextrose (also found in IV solutions)
  • d-Gluconic acid
  • Distilled white vinegar
  • Drying agent
  • Erythorbic acid
  • Erythritol
  • Ethanol
  • Ethocel 20
  • Ethylcellulose
  • Ethylene
  • Ethyl acetate
  • Ethyl alcohol
  • Ethyl lactate
  • Ethyl maltol
  • Fibersol-2
  • Flavorings
  • Food starch
  • Fructose
  • Fruit juice concentrate
  • Fumaric acid
  • Germ/germ meal
  • Gluconate
  • Gluconic acid
  • Glucono delta-lactone
  • Gluconolactone
  • Glucosamine
  • Glucose
  • Glucose syrup (also found in IV solutions)
  • Glutamate
  • Gluten
  • Gluten feed/meal
  • Glycerides
  • Glycerin
  • Glycerol
  • Golden syrup
  • Honey
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
  • Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
  • Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose pthalate (HPMCP)
  • Inositol
  • Invert syrup or sugar
  • Iodized salt
  • Lactate
  • Lactic acid
  • Lauryl glucoside
  • Lecithin
  • Linoleic acid
  • Lysine
  • Magnesium fumarate
  • Maize
  • Malic acid
  • Malonic acid
  • Malt syrup from corn
  • Malt, malt extract
  • Maltitol
  • Maltodextrin
  • Maltol
  • Maltose
  • Mannitol
  • Methyl gluceth
  • Methyl glucose
  • Methyl glucoside
  • Methylcellulose
  • Microcrystaline cellulose
  • Modified cellulose gum
  • Modified food starch
  • Molasses
  • Mono and di glycerides
  • Monosodium glutamate
  • MSG
  • Natural flavorings
  • Olestra/Olean
  • Polydextrose
  • Polylactic acid (PLA)
  • Polysorbates such as Polysorbate 80
  • Polyvinyl acetate
  • Potassium citrate
  • Potassium fumarate
  • Potassium gluconate
  • Powdered sugar
  • Pregelatinized starch
  • Propionic acid
  • Propylene glycol
  • Propylene glycol monostearate
  • Saccharin
  • Salt
  • Semolina unless made from wheat
  • Simethicone
  • Sodium carboxymethylcellulose
  • Sodium citrate
  • Sodium erythorbate
  • Sodium fumarate
  • Sodium lactate
  • Sodium starch glycolate
  • Sodium stearoyl fumarate
  • Sorbate
  • Sorbic acid
  • Sorbitan
  • Sorbitan monooleate
  • Sorbitan tri-oleate
  • Sorbitol
  • Sorghum
  • Splenda
  • Starch
  • Stearic acid
  • Stearoyls
  • Sucralose
  • Sucrose
  • Sugar
  • Talc
  • Threonine
  • Tocopherol
  • Treacle
  • Triethyl citrate
  • Unmodified starch
  • Vanilla, natural flavoring
  • Vanilla, pure or extract
  • Vanillin
  • Vinegar, distilled white
  • Vinyl acetate
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin supplements
  • Xanthan gum
  • Xylitol
  • Yeast

It is essential to work with a nutritionist and an Integrative M.D. because I am sharing general information that is not intended to be medical advice. This information is only given for informational purposes.

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15 comments

    1. Hi Melanie – some yeast contains sorbitan/sorbitol which comes from corn so you just need to be extra careful with yeast products.

  1. I need Corn free, wheat free, dairy free, broccoli free, nut free recipes. I have recently developed life threatening allergies to all these.
    .

    1. Hi Shannon! All of our recipes are corn and wheat free, though we do have some broccoli recipes you should avoid! We do often use nuts, but feel free to swap them for seeds if you can handle them.

  2. I just found out I have a corn allergy. I have been searching and searching for recipes and food to eat. I am at a loss can anyone help? Please!

    Thank you!
    Amanda

  3. Wanted to add a couple of item to your list. Veggies and fruit that have a wax coating: tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, pears. The wax is made from corn. Also, any dairy or nut milk product that has been fortified w/ vitamins. Corn oil and propylene glycol are added to keep the oil soluble vitamins (D & A) emulsified. Also vit. A is usually made from corn as is ascorbic acid (vit. C). HTH

  4. I was diagnosed in 2010 with fructose malabsorption. I saw a gastroenterologist who after having an endoscopy told me my probs, Coeliac, Diverticular disease, IBs. I asked how I go about helping myself, he said to drink a particular drink each day to help move my bowels. Well that drink had wheat in!!! So I have been since then trying and failing and trying again. I knew that corn was a no no being fructose mal, but really didnt realise the extent of corn in everything. I have gradually cut down and down, and worked out and worked out to now at this point knowing that really corn was the problem when I still felt bad!!! Gluten free flour I thought OK but then read its got Maize in, as has the gluten free pasta, so much taken out of my diet. BUT its beginning to work. All I needed was someone out there to advise not the local dietician who told me I need to eat more cereals and vegetables, all of which with the fructose problem and being coeliac I couldn’t!!! So maybe this is it at last. Its going to be more difficult to eat but at least my very clean diet is now even cleaner!!!

  5. Thank you for being diligent and disciplined to blog, publish, and share across the tech world. To my husband’s dismay, I do free one to one advice and gladly send people to sites like yours! Honestly, always grateful for those of us thriving and excited to encourage others to look beyond the status quo to embrace “the way God made it and we didn’t screw it up.” So much to enjoy and to use for healing.

    Our journies are incredibly parallel down to mold and MTHFR. Over 15 years for answers and now over 15 yrs in healing! BTW favorite brushoff from a doc when I was 29? “You’re just aging and should get used to it!”

    To all, enjoy knowing you can regain your life. It’s more than okay not to look like the mainstream. Help one another turn the tide of illness and make health the mainstream.

    To Amie, I am digging through your lists and articles for new ideas as my body has hit a lil plateau and needs kicked up a notch. Keep it coming!