Hellobee Boards

Someone I know my age has a corn allergy. It's so severe, she can't eat meat that has been corn fed. Corn and HFCS is in everything. She makes most of her own products

ME! DD1 has a corn allergy that causes her eczema to flare up terribly. We've been on a corn-free diet for almost 2 years now and let me tell you - corn free products in the US is soooo hard to come by! And to clarify, we only avoid the obvious corn products (corn meal, corn starch, corn syrup, etc.) so we are considered "corn-lite" but I know that there are people who are terribly allergic and need to avoid all corn by-products [this is a whole other world of food since almost everything has corn by-product like manitol and alcohol and citric acid and dextrose]. I find the best luck in shopping at Trader Joe's for corn free items such as snacks, cereal and something as simple as powder sugar for frosting on cakes. We only buy blocks of cheese and grate ourselves for pizza since most grated cheese bags have cornstarch to prevent clumping

Does your LO have to go corn-free or is corn-lite ok? What is her reaction to corn? I joined the FB group Corn Allergy & Intolerance (Maize, Zea Mays) and found them very helpful. Most members are corn-free but it's a great place to go if you want help on where to get corn-free products. They also share when they find new corn-free or corn-lite products.

EDIT: Also check out this website - http://www.cornallergens.com/list/corn-allergen-list.php.

We've suspected corn allergy because of all the hypoallergenic formulas, LO will only tolerate the one without corn syrup - Alimentum RTF. It's a blast going through a whole container a day and trying to find at least 7 bottles a week on the shelves! The list of meds with corn syrup and derivatives is so discouraging when you look at it.

@spaniellove: you should be able to order through your doctor. I have some patients with corn allergies requiring alimentum rtf and we always send then with scripts. Often if it's medical necessity, insurance will pick up part of the cost.

I have a corn allergy and lost 15 pounds when I first found out I had it because I didn't know what to eat. Now I eat very healthy because corn, as you have discovered, lurks in the majority of processed foods. It's a cheap filler and makes you learn about the factory farms and the big shot food producers real quick.

I do a lot of rice, including rice cereals (think rice Chex). Watch out for gluten free stuff too, because corn is often the main ingredient. "Natural" is your best bet, but you can never trust a food label that says that--many believe manufactured corn derived sweeteners are natural (key word: manufactured).

Try Pamela's Products. I believe many of their products are corn free.

Edit: My best advice is get familiar with all the tricky corn "names" and read all your ingredient lists. I am now back to the basics (use real butter, cook many convenience items from scratch).

@anonysquire: that sounds awful! When you say popcorn...you do mean the puffed kind right? Because popcorn is really unsafe for kids under 6 yrs old. It's one of the biggest choking hazards out there.