Allergies: How I Learned to Start Worrying and Hate Corn (and corn-derivatives)
As Sophia Petrillo would say, let me tell you a story. Picture it: Prague, 2012. For four and a half months, a young man and his girlfriend study abroad in the gorgeous capital of the Czech Republic. The trip is transformative - sharing a small apartment alone in a foreign country forces the couple to work out any potential issues. I was that young man, and the girlfriend is now my wife. We’ve been together now over eleven years, and married for three of those.
Unfortunately, the trip was transformative in another way as well - upon returning to the US, I was beset by a host of gastrointestinal and skin problems. In October 2013, I was diagnosed with allergies to peanuts and to corn. Though merely informed speculation, I believe that the nearly-complete absence of both corn and peanuts while studying abroad, followed by their near-constant presence after I returned, triggered something in my immune system. Whatever the cause, the allergist who diagnosed the corn allergy knew little about it, and their recommendation was simply “don’t eat corn”. Needless to say, that advice was severely lacking. A few years after that, another allergy test at a different allergists’ office also showed positive for corn allergy; that allergist didn’t believe I had a corn allergy at first and thought it was a false-positive, until I explained that I had had it confirmed via a previous test and also by personal experiences.
I am lucky in that my corn allergy is not, for the most part, deadly. There has only been one instance that almost required the administration of an Epi-Pen (luckily it did not, as I didn’t have an Epi-Pen at the time). I have gradually cut out almost all of the corn from my diet and my life in general with help from resources like the life-saving Corn Allergy Girl [1].
A few examples of my corn allergy in action:
Dryer sheets are off-limits, as they produce an itchy rash in the more delicate areas of my body.
I have changed hand soaps, body washes, shampoos, etc. again and again until I found ones that (generally) don’t cause any trouble.
Fried foods are a bit like Russian roulette; supposedly, corn oil is processed at a high enough heat that it “should not” cause problems, but I’ve had reactions to it before [3].
Cardboard boxes are potentially treated with corn starch; i.e., the boxes of shipping envelopes at my job have occasionally caused reactions [6].
Corn starch (or “food starch”) is often used as an anti-caking ingredient and can be found commonly in ingredients such as powdered sugar and baking powder.
Fruits and vegetables (yes, even organic fruits and veggies) may be processed with corn-derivatives (ethylene gas from corn for ripening, coated with waxes containing corn, etc.)
Baked goods (such as pizzas, Publix sub rolls (iykyk), cakes, etc.) are commonly made with corn products, like corn meal, during the baking process, but do not always list these ‘process’ ingredients in their ingredient list.
A few examples of items either derived from corn or processed with corn-derivatives: glucose, fructose, dextrose, MSG, citric acid, and extracts (like vanilla extract)
For more information about corn allergies in general, I suggest the following link:
https://cornallergygirl.com/2019/01/10/clearing-up-some-misconceptions-about-corn-allergy/
References and Other Helpful Links:
[1] https://cornallergygirl.com/
[2] https://www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com/managing-a-corn-allergy/
[3] https://www.ecoproducts.com/what-if-i-am-allergic-to-corn.html
[4] https://medium.com/@Weresquirrel/the-last-straw-starbucks-ignores-allergy-risks-in-straws-6d0c9f81cb77
[5] https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/what-its-like-be-allergic-corn/580594/
[6] https://twitter.com/swiftonsecurity/status/1074810043495796736?lang=en
