When cooking from scratch, I find cooking corn-free is one of the easiest things to do; most of the ingredients are easily substituted with something you probably already have in your cabinet. Buying corn free can be difficult. This list tells you ingredients that may be derived from corn and are commonly found in things such as canned food. I prefer to not buy things that have ingredients I can't pronounce, or acids (can be made from corn), so many of the canned foods I use only have 2-4 ingredients (sugar, salt, water, juice, etc., depending on what it is.) Ironically, it is usually the cheapest brands that contain the simple, edible ingredients (Note-cheaper can be better!)
--A Corn-Free Kitchen--
Iodized Salt- Buy sea salt! Iodized salt contains corn-based stabilizers
Baking Powder- Contains corn starch. Instead, use 1/4 tsp. baking soda + 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar for every 1 tsp. baking powder.
Powdered Sugar- Corn starch. Thankfully, making your own is easy; simply throw some white sugar in the blender until fluffy!
Honey- Buy your honey local. Big honey companies will sometimes mix corn syrup in with the honey during bottling, or they will feed their bees corn syrup. Buying local supports you farmers and means that you can ensure good, pure honey (ask them how they make it, of course)
Xanthan Gum- That's right! Xanthan gum is bacteria grown on corn. You can substitute guar gum, or buy this corn-free brand.
Sourguhm Flour- Close relative of corn. Don't even go there. Use other flours.
**Notes-
- When buying pre-prepared foods or canned goods, avoid elusive starches (vegetable starch, food starch, etc.) Same goes for oils.
-Utz potato chips are corn free :)
These are simply the ingredients I use the most. Find more info at these blogs:
http://www.cornallergens.com/
http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/corn-bother.html
http://freeeatsfood.com/2011/02/20/a-crash-course-in-corn-free-baking-and-cooking/
Know anymore substitutes or things to avoid? Leave a comment and share!
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