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So the next step: researching the names of corn derivatives and printing off a comprehensive list to take with me to the grocery store. Five pages of a Word document later . . . I was slightly disheartened. A few off the top that I would have never associated with corn: astaxanthin, citric acid, calcium lactate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and xanthan gum. Yeah.
And another trip to the grocery store (this time my hometown Safeway in Ephrata, WA), still proved challenging. I quickly acquired a list of food items that I would have normally picked up without a second thought, but were now banned from stocking my college pantry due to some form of corn on the ingredients list: Eggo Waffles, Doritos, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Simply Asia microwave noodle bowls, Bush's Baked Beans, Tree Top Applesauce, Snack Pack Chocolate Pudding, Instant Breakfast, JIF Peanut Butter, Coffee Mate creamer, and Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies.
I found a corn-free soy sauce (Kikkoman) which would provide several fairly cheap meals of seasoning white rice (not a particularly balanced or varied meal, but something to fill up on.) I also found Amy's Organic Soups (chunky vegetable) that contained simple and corn-free ingredients ($2.99.) It was almost a relief to come across items like Green Giant green beans or Bumble Bee canned Tuna where I could read (and understand) every ingredient on the list. The pasta aisle was a challenge, but I managed to find that Annie's Shells & White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese was corn-free (dinner for a week!) Comparatively, though, Annie's mac & cheese was twice the price of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, which contained corn. And this pricier trend was all over the store: there were Mission Organics White Corn tortilla chips, also about a dollar more expensive than the un-organic Mission bags. Similarly, Cascadian Farm organic chocolate chip chewy granola bars (6-pk) were nearly $5, twice as much as the Chewy brand.
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Considering myself as a college kid with a budget, or a mom with several kids to feed, or just about anyone strapped for cash, I could see that the obvious choice on the shelves would be the cheaper product, almost all of which contain corn derivatives. The corn-free organic brands are available to those who can afford it, and even then health-conscious people reading labels are challenged by complicated lingo and confusing labeling. For example, I found a box of Kellogg's Nutri-grain bars which boasted "No High Fructose Corn Syrup" in the upper left corner, but a close inspection of the ingredient list for the filling of the bars showed that it did, in fact, contain high fructose corn syrup on the inside.
Great post! Very comprehensive look into how pervasive corn is into our culture of eating. It seems interesting to me (and a little disheartening) that as americans we seem to have chosen low price/high yield vs high quality/healthy food amounts. Corn is just another way to provide bulk and flavor for virtually nothing money wise. It also blew my mind at how tricky the wording can be. The many names of corn...whew!
ReplyDeleteIt really is unfortunate that so many products have a corn byproduct somewhere in the list of ingredients. I'm with Rachel on this: there are so many different names for corn and it's enough to make someone's head spin. I was also really surprised to hear that a Kellogg's product claimed it had no corn syrup, yet it's on the back--talk about false advertisement. Well done on the blog entry!
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