Thursday, November 30, 2006

Annie's Naturals Organic Ketchup

Confirmation from Annie's Naturals posted on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum, states that their Organic Ketchup is corn-free.

The vinegar is supposed to be from apples.

It is processed on the same equipment as corn containing products, but the equipment is thoroughly cleaned in between products.

Annie's Naturals Website

Mott's Applesauce

Please read labels on these. I was just informed that some snackpacks contain HFCS? Unfortunately someone learned this the hardway, then read the label.

Swedish Toasts - Krisprolls from Pagen

A post on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum, confirms these products to be corn-free.

Pagen's Swedish Toasts - Krisprolls contain vegetable fat from rape-oil (canola) and the yeast used is grown on molasses (wheat, rye, oat and substratum).

**Update 12/12/06 - I have been informed that Chicago Importing Co. imports these products. Happy Hunting.

Stretch Island Fruit Company

According to a post on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum, Stretch Island products are corn-free.

Their natural flavors come from fruit. Such as their apple flavoring comes from apples.

Nutiva Hemp Protein Powder

Correspondence from Nutiva, as posted on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum, states that the only product they make that has corn in it is their new HempShakes which contain corn derived flavorings.

The HempShakes are used on the same lines as their other products, but the lines are cleaned in between products.

The Nutiva Hemp Protein Powder is corn-free, but could possibly contain contamination. Though the risk would probably be pretty slim.

Aveeno Baby Products

Correspondence with Aveeno posted on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum confirms corn in two of their baby products.

Aveeno Smoothing Body Scrub and Aveeno Skin Relief Body Wash both contain corn-derived ingredients.

Aveeno (Johnson & Johnson company) states that their Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash and their Aveeno Baby Sunblock are corn-free.

So far these have not been tested.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Delouis Organic Mayo & Mustard

These products are newly discovered and will appear in the next updated corn-free foods list.

Delouis Organic is an imported product from France.

A post on Delphi forums did confirm that the vinegar used in Delouis Organic's mayo (listed as just vinegar) is derived from wheat not corn.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Giambris Natural Candy

According to several posts on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum: Corn-free Candy Canes, there is a company in New Jersey that makes a corn-free candy candy cane. Giambris Natural Candy Company makes candy canes from pure cane sugar, beet coloring, and oil of peppermint.

However, another poster on Delphi Avoiding Corn Forum: Corn-free Candy Canes called the company to double check on cross-contamination problems.

Giambris Natural's corn-free candy canes are made in the same work area right after and inbetween batches of corn syrup candies. The work area is not cleaned in between batches.

This is a huge issue of cross-contamination and please use caution if you do decide to enjoy them.

This product will not be showing up on the list for this reason.

*Update 12/12/06. Just as an added warning.. A poster on Delphi had already ordered these prior to finding out about the cross-contamination problem, and at a weak moment decided to try them and had a reaction. Her testimonial includes "DO NOT BUY THESE CANDY CANES!" and "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME..."

Monday, November 27, 2006

Hain Celestial Foods

For those of you new to contacting companies about corn ingredients in foods, don't get your hopes up in emailing Hain Celestial.

Those of us who've tried to contact Hain Celestial over the years, have given up on getting cooperation from this company. If your allergy is not: peanuts, soy, milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, treenuts, or wheat.. They will not help you but will send you a form letter much like the one found here: Delphi Forums - Earth's Best Baby Foods

While they are excellent at those listed allergens, they completely refuse to help those of us with other allergies.

They are supposedly more helpful by phone, but they are still quite uncooperative.

I would recommend using extreme caution in using any of their products that are not currently on the list as cross-contamination seems to be a big issue as well as hidden corn.

On their products, we are limited to human (guinea pig) testing in order to determine corn-free status. There are a few products by Hain Celestial on the list that have passed human testing. Please let us know if you have any problems with any of their products. Thanks.

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Products

Back in Sept, before this blog got started. There was a post on Delphi Forums about Mrs. Meyer's products.

The following products were confirmed with the company to contain corn:

Window Spray (contains Ethanol)
Stainless Steel Cleaner (contains Ethanol)
Automatic Dishwashing Liquid (contains Xanthan Gum - corn or soy derived)
Toilet Bowl Cleaner (contains Xanthan Gum - corn or soy derived)
Laundry Detergent (caramel color derived from corn)
Liquid Dish Soap (caramel color and Ethanol)
All-Purpose Cleaner (caramel color derived from corn)

Arrowhead Mills - Flours

According to a post on Delphi Forums there is a high risk of corn contamination with Arrowhead Mills Spelt Flour.

Corn Pasta and Popcorn are produced in the same facility.

Another post of correspondence from Arrowhead Mills states that they do not consider corn an allergen and thus do not monitor it. Arrowhead Mills is owned by the Hain Celestial Group, which is known for its uncooperativeness with regards to corn inquiries.

Also the enrichments in their flours do contain either corn or soy, without knowing which. Their enriched products are not recommended.

I have not seen any reports of adverse reactions to their unenriched flours as of yet, so they will be staying on the list with a cross-contamination warning.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Yummy Earth Products

This is one of the products researched before the start of this blog. So I'm reposting a bit from the News for Corn Avoiders blog so it'll show up on searches here if someone is curious about Yummy Earth and wants more info.
__

A while ago on the News for Corn Avoiders blog, we did a post about Yummy Earth lollipops and how helpful and honest the company was about the sources of their ingredients.

Recently, Yummy Earth came to Delphi Forums and posted some updated information.

Yummy Earth, due to demand, has expanded their product lines to include "drops" or individual hard candies without the stick.

They've also started selling their products in individual flavors so you're not stuck with that one flavor you can't eat (due to allergy) or that you just don't like.

If you're like me, you're a big Yummy Earth fan, and you just can't wait to order a bulk of your favorite flavor... I've included a link that goes directly to their ordering site.

Yummy Earth Online Shop

(Yummy Earth products are also available on Amazon.com)

** Updated info on ingredients: 12/19/2006

Yummy Earth came onto Delphi and posted the following:

"we got an inquiry asking about citrus oils and safflower oils in each of our flavors, so naturally I thought of telling all of you, too!!!

As posted at www.yummyearth.com/ingredients

Razzmatazz Berry - No Safflower, No Orange, No Lemon

Wet-Face Watermelon - Safflower Yes, No Orange, No Lemon

Cheeky Lemon - No Safflower, No Orange, Lemon Yes

Orange Squeeze - No Safflower, Orange Yes, No Lemon

Pomegranate Pucker - No Safflower, Orange Yes, Lemon Yes"

So far there has been no reported corn-related reactions to these products.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Seventh Generation - Reverified

Due to some questions about Seventh Generation's website claiming corn in their products, one member of the Delphi forum verified with Seventh Generation the source of their surfactants is now only coconut oil.

However, their toilet cleaner and all-purpose spray are not corn-free.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Frontier Vanilla Flavoring

I am unsure whether to keep this on the list or not, but I will post here the findings on this product so you all can make better educated decisions regarding your own health.

Frontier Vanilla Making explains how they make vanilla. Which by their use of ethyl alcohol, makes their Vanilla Extract full of corn.

However, the question is if their Vanilla Flavor (glycerin-based)is truely corn-free?

Frontier Glossary states: "Frontier carries USP-grade Glycerin 99.7% made from palm oil."

We do not know what that extra .3% is in their glycerin and could be anything. As of yet, I am not aware of any reactions to this product, but keep your eyes open.

*11/27/06 - Update

An inquiry made into Frontier's Alcohol-Free Vanilla (aka Vanilla Flavor) has verified that there is possibility of trace amounts of corn to be in the product.

The vanilla extract used in the product is made from vanilla extracted with corn alcohol, then distilled to remove the alcohol, then is mixed with the glycerin.

Any corn remaining from this process would be minimal, but it is still a risk. Use your own judgement.

As of today, I am not aware of any reactions to the Alcohol-Free Frontier Vanilla Flavor.

Bare Escentuals - May cause irritation

A common ingredient in mineral powders is Bismuth Oxychloride, which due to some research is a very common irritant.

An article by Lynn Starner explains better what Bismuth Oxychloride is and where it comes from.

So when using cosmetics with this ingredient, skin irritation may or may not be corn-related. Just an FYI.

Dei Frattelli - Corn based Citric Acid Added

Some Dei Frattelli products have recently added citric acid. According to a post on Delphi - Avoiding Corn Forum, Dei Frattelli has added citric acid to their crushed and pureed tomato products.

It is unknown if the labels of Dei Frattelli tomatoes that do not list citric acid, are safe as often companies use up their old labels first.

This item will be removed from the list.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

India Tree Decorator/Sanding Sugars

A discussion on Delphi - Avoiding Corn has lead to the following information.

It seems that inbetween processing the different decorator sugars, India Tree does not clean its lines, but blows off the machinery. Making any allergens airborne. Some of their decorator sugars (sanding sugars) contain maltodextrin (corn derivative) so there is a high chance of cross-contamination with these products.

Use with caution.

Carlson Labs - Fish Oil

According to a company response posted on Delphi - Avoiding Corn Carlson Labs' Fish Oil liquid is corn-free. Their products with sorbitol and fructose do contain corn.

Barbara's Bakery - Mashed Potatoes

According to a report on Delphi - Avoiding Corn, Barbara's Bakery potato chips are corn-free.

There was a miscommunication. Their chips are corn-free, however their mashed potatoes are not. The mashed potatoes are spun and dried in a drum coated with a layer of corn-derived citric acid.

This is a major cross-contamination problem and sensitive people should make note to avoid the mashed potatoes at all costs.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Barilla - Cross Contamination Problem

We have not added Barilla pasta to the safelist due to several reported reactions.

One of the Delphi - Corn Avoiders recently called Barilla to check on the ingredients of one of their pasta sauces. See Original post here: Delphi - Avoiding Corn: Barilla Sauce

While Barilla claims not to put any gluten or corn derivatives (citric acid is from tapioca) in their sauce, they did mention that there is a high probability of cross contamination with wheat or corn products.

Their products may be safe for those who are not highly sensitive to corn, but use their products at your own risk as one batch may be safe and another not-so-much.

Not Corn-free Research up until 11-13-06

Since this blog is new, and there has been some research done prior to opening the blog, I thought I'd put a short update on foods already researched either through company correspondence or through human guinea-pig testing.

Some of these products the companies still insist and declare corn-free status, and may be tolerable for those with higher tolerances. However, you have been warned.

Food Items: (listed alphabetically by brand/manufacturer)

365 Sodas (Whole Foods) All varieties - (citric acid is from corn, natural flavors -essential oils)

365 Organic Chicken Broth (now has corn starch)

Applegate Farms company confirms chicken pot pie, black forest ham, chicken nuggets, joystick Salami/Pepperoni/Soppressata (all varieties) contain corn.

Arrowhead Mills puffed cereals - possible cross contamination - reactions reported.

Barilla Pastas - has corn. Probably in the enrichments. Several reactions reported.

Cabot Cheese - Conveyer dressings dusted in corn, cross contamination likely.

Carr's Water Table Crackers: Multiple reactions reported. Possible flour contamination?

Cascadian Farms Purely O's company confirmed corn

Charmin Toilet tissue - contains corn starch.

Del Monte "naturally derived citric acid" is from corn. Citric acid is labeled if used.

Farm Friends Crackers - Malt contains corn grits. Customer service very helpful, looking into ways to make product safe.

Fleishmanns - yeast. Grown on corn.

Gold Medal Flour (unbleached) reported reactions

Gold Medal Organic Unbleached Flour CC 10/06 (multiple reactions)

Heinz vinegars (Cider vinegar is suspect, company never confirmed either way. All others Heinz said contains corn.)

Hodgson Mill Flour (unbleached) (CC) (clean/dust equip with corn starch between runs. not safe)

Hodgson's Mill Yeast – grown on corn.

Kellogg’s Organic Raisin Bran & Organic Mini-Wheats (several reported reactions)

Kleenex Tissues - confirmed corn.

Kirkland Vanilla Ice Cream: corn-free except the vanilla is distilled with corn alcohol.

LeSaffre yeast is grown on corn sugar.

Midel graham crackers and cookies. Trace amounts of corn. Reactions reported.

Namaste mixes (Note: Some contain xanthan gum. Namaste claims corn-free status, but several have reported reactions) CC GF

Newman's Own Spelt Pretzels (and other products) - Newman’s doesn't consider corn allergenic so cross-contamination is a big problem. Several reactions reported.

New Morning Honey Grahams (cream of tartar? corn source?) Has trace amounts of corn. Multiple reactions reported.

Organic Valley says are not cornfree: Buttermilk & Buttermilk powder (culture corn derived), Chocolate Milk, Heavy Whipping Cream, Lactose-free Milk, Eggnog, All soy products, Sour Cream, cream cheese (one of the two cultures is corn derived). Cheeses packaging dusted with cornstarch: See Article on News for Corn Avoiders

Organic Valley Milks – Company confirmed all except those produced at the “55 1224” plant are corn-free. GF However, all enriched ones have several reported reactions.

Piedmont Candy Company sticks - Company confirmed that they use cornstarch in all products.

Red Star Yeast (note: Grown on corn but company swears the final product has no corn after testing) Several reactions.

Rice Dream Cocoa Marble Fudge "Ice Cream" - company no longer says is corn-free.

Pom 400 Toilet Paper (glue at the start is corn and glue to hold paper to roll is corn) paper is corn-free otherwise - Sam's Club

SAF Yeasts - Grown on corn, company claims no corn remains.

Spice Hunter - some products contain maltodextrin. Unsure which ones as of yet.

Snyder of Hanover Pretzel Sticks CC 8/06 (reported reactions, possibly cross-contamination issues)

Spry gum - Xylitol from corn.

StoneyField Farms - All organic yogurts and smoothies - CC 8/06 (caution - vanilla does have corn alcohol, unsure on pectin. Company insists its corn-free) multiple reactions reported.

StoneyField Farms Plain Yogurt (full fat) CC unsure of source of corn, but several reported reactions.

SunMaid Raisins 1-877-415-3397 (multiple reported reactions, esp in Canada)

Terra Chips (Sweet Potato and Other) (processed on same lines with corn, but machinery cleaned between batches) 8/06 – several reported reactions

Tom's of Maine - Company Confirmed that xylitol may be corn or birch depending, and sorbitol is corn.

Walker's Shortbread Cookies (several reported reactions)


Soaps/Cleaners:

Method (Target) - products now have corn listed on the label.

Household:
Avalon Organics’: Lavender Shampoo (several reactions reported)
Dr. Bronner Sal-Suds: Lauryl glucoside made from corn.

Vitamins/Medications:
Excedrine Migraine: company now uses corn in all products.

Freeda Vitamins : Company quickly confirms corn-free status (as well as milk, egg, and yeast free) however on two separate trials of their products severe reactions were reported. Use extreme caution.

Nature’s Plus: Animal Parade Vitamins (corn-reactions reported)

Solgar Vitamins: Company confirms that these are corn-free, though multiple corn allergy reactions have been reported to several different products.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Koala Crisp by Envirokidz

Envirokidz Organic Koala Crisp does not appear on The List because the natural chocolate flavor is in a corn alcohol base. For some corn avoiders, alcohol is not a problem because of its fermented nature and lack of protein. Because people with corn allergies react in many different ways to varying traces of corn, we have opted to keep products with traces of corn off the list.

Piedmont Candy - Removed

According to a post by an avid Corn Avoider, Piedmont Candy Company states that they do use corn starch in all their batches of candy.

This product has been removed from the safe-list and will not appear in next months update.

Peidmont Candy Company

Gold Medal Flours - Removed

Due to multiple reactions, these products are being removed and will not show up in the updated list next month.

If you can tolerate enriched products, then these are probably safe for you. However, if you are extremely sensitive to corn and enriched products, do not take the chance with these flours.

Gold Medal was contacted back in October 2006 and they do claim this product to be corn-free (enrichments and all). However, those of us with severe sensitivities know that what is often considered corn-free, can still contain small amounts of corn.

This includes all Gold Medal flours, regular and organic.

Commentary/Discussion on the Removal of this product from the safe list: Delphi - Avoiding Corn: Flour and yeast.

Stacy's Pita Chips - Removed

Due to several reported reactions to their chips, Stacy's Pita Chips have been removed from the safe-list and will not appear in next month's update.

According to a Canadian Corn Avoider, Stacy's Pita Chips in Canada are now listing ascorbic acid, malted barley, and sorbitan monostearate. Each of these could be a source of corn exposure, and coupled with the reported reactions stemming from the US market as well, this product is no longer to be considered safe.

Friday, November 10, 2006