Avoiding Corn in Canada
Avoiding Corn in CanadaA few years ago, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency undertook some studies to determine whether it was economically feasible to force manufacturers to indicate the origins of number of products known to cause allergic reactions in people. They determined that even though corn allergy is real and can be serious, not enough people are affected by it to merit changing the labeling laws to show exactly when every ingredient of every food and drink can be traced back to corn. This means that if you want to avoid corn, you have to avoid all products that contain ingredients that may have come from corn, even if there are cases when they might be made from something else.
- There is no one-stop summary of this information. The government web sites involved are: Common Allergenic Foods and Their Labelling in Canada - A Review (PDF) (especially page 128), Labelling of Foods Causing Allergies and Sensitivities (this site has links to the industry consultations and an Information Letter), as well as the 2003 Canadian Food Inspection Agency Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising, Chapter 2: Basic Labelling Requirements,
Annex 2-1 - Mandatory Common Names of Ingredients and Components
Annex 2-2 - Class Names for Ingredients
Annex 2-3 - Ingredients Exempt from Component Declaration
Annex 2-4 - Component Declarations.
Even though the government does not recall foods containing undeclared corn, you may still be interested in foods recalled because of contamination with one of the “big 8” allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, soy, sesame, shellfish, eggs, milk or wheat), bacteria, or other concerns. www.HealthyCanadians.gc.ca is the site to bookmark for these purposes.
