Corn… it’s in everything. This post is just dedicated to the facts of corn; the next will be about the ethics of corn. I’ve had a long love-hate affair with corn. There’s nothing better than fresh-picked Jersey sweet corn in the summer. However, most corn in this country is not our beloved summer ears – it’s for livestock feed, or high fructose corn syrup, or a multitude of other products that you will see listed here. This stuff I hate – for environmental, health and ethical reasons. But first, what is corn really in? Once you look at this list and take a good look at what you buy, you’ll realize it’s extremely hard to avoid it. ***This information comes from my own assimilated knowledge and much of it comes from corn.org, the website of the Corn Refiners Association – all the bigwigs in corn at corn.org***
CORN FOOD PRODUCTS:
High Fructose Corn Syrup – a sweetener found in soft drinks, packaged foods, basically everything
Corn Syrup – a thickener, sweetener
Mono- and di- glycerides – thickeners, softeners
Dextrose – sweetener, in many yeast products (bread, beer, etc.), softener, texture
Citric and Lactic acids – a preservative and flavoring in many processed foods
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – an addictive flavoring found in everything from chinese food to soups
Xanthan Gum – a thickener used in foods, shampoos
Vitamin C, E, and others – often produced from corn stock
Corn Oil – used like olive oil, canola oil
CORN NON-FOOD PRODUCTS:
Ethanol – a type of fuel, now added to many gasolines
Corn starch/other types of starches – yes, cornstarch can be eaten, but it can also be used to make playdough.. so I put it here. Other types of starches are used in everything from oil drilling to ironing your shirts.
Corn Plastic – biodegradable plastics
CORN LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS:
Gluten meal – poultry
Steepwater – beef
Corn gluten feed – beef
Corn Statistics:
From Corn.org : “Most of the corn produced in the U.S., over 50%, is used to feed animals. Over 15% is exported. The rest is used to make cereal and other products, kept as seed for the next crop or kept as ending stocks.”
and
“About 13 percent[of items in a grocery store] include corn wet milled ingredients. A survey conducted by the association in February 1999 found 3,795 items containing 7,366 refined corn ingredients in a store containing approximately 30,000 items total.”
Ei.. that’s corn for you.
