armchair cultural observation since 1995

Corn-based foods

Corn has been all over the news this week with the release of a study putting scientitic backing to a belief that was already widespread – fast food is mostly corn – and talk that former Iowa Gov. Tom Vlisack, a big corn biofuel supporter, could be tapped to head the Department of Agriculture in an Obama Administration.

Thanks in part to folks like journalist Michael Pollan and the wonderful documentary “King Corn,” there has been a growing movement of people concerned about how ubiquitous corn is in the American diet and the enormous government subsidies that make it cost effective to corn-feed livestock and produce millions of barrells of High Fructose Corn Syrup, to name just a few uses for an ear of corn.

 This list of food products with corn only scratches the surface, but it should at the very least be an introduction to the wonders of food science and our nation’s industrial food complex. Please note: many of these items are also made without corn-derived ingredients. The listing of the following items were based on items for sale in a grocery store in Louisville, Ky.   

1. Frozen pizza – yellow corn meal, white corn meal, corn oil

2. Cappaccino mix – corn syrup

3. Pickles – high fructose corn syrup

4. Peanut Butter – cornstarch

5. Frozen Fruit – corn syrup

6. Cereal Bars – high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, cornstarch, soluble corn fiber

7. Lifesavers – corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup

8. Twinkies – nine of its 39 ingredients are made from corn

9. Rice – cornstarch 

10. Chocolate bar – corn syrup

Sources:
National Institute of Health
Ontario Corn
Corn Allergens
Accidental Hedonist

Tagged as: ,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.