The Corn-Free Grocery Challenge

So what's the impact when a crop like corn does become king? The answer is that the surplus of corn infiltrates our food system in some unexpected ways: being genetically modified and scientifically engineered to become usable in the most unlikely of food products (Yoplait yogurt, Heinz Ketchup, and Bush's Baked Beans to name a few.) And the addition of genetically-modified corn derivatives to the ingredient lists of many grocery items isn't necessarily good for our health.This excess of high fructose corn syrup and other disguised corn derivatives in so much of our food is causing some series health problems for our generation. So, the challenge? To buy a week's worth of groceries that don't contain corn, on a college-student budget. Here's my process:

A trip to the local Winco to pick up Thursday night dinner supplies after class had piqued my interest-- how hard was this corn-free assignment really going to be? I strolled through the aisles trying to think of a filling food that shouldn't contain corn. Brilliant idea number one: Top Ramon. The classic, college-budget staple that could sustain a student for a week. A quick turn down the soup aisle proved disappointing though: a short way down the ingredient list I found "hydrolyzed corn protein." A scan of other nearby soup options-- Campbell's chicken noodle soup? Nalley's Chilly?-- yielded similar results. While scanning labels, I also had a haunting suspicion that many of the ingredients I was reading-- the complicated, scientific-sounding ones-- probably contained corn derivatives that I was completely unaware of.

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.

Browsing through organic selections proved a bit more successful. I found Odwalla juice had no corn derivatives (although it's competitor Naked did), and neither did the "mexican" Coca-Cola made with cane sugar. Surprisingly, the Odwalla label even stated: "No gmo. Odwalla does not use ingredients that were produced using biotechnology if bioengineered versions exist."Aside from that, my drink options were limited-- even my usual favorite, "healthy" V8 Splash had high fructose corn syrup (as the second ingredient after water!)

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.

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.


Also, just a note on the correlation between youth diabetes and a high consumption of high fructose corn syrup-- this mystery liquid vampire candy, placed conveniently by check-out at Winco just in time for halloween--corn syrup as its very first ingredient (yuck):

Why is corn everywhere?

First off-- to understand why corn has become a concern in the American food system and diets, here's a link to an article by Michael Pollan that sums it up nicely:

When A Crop Becomes King

The article is from 2002, so the numbers are outdated, but it's a good start to understanding why we're at where we are today.