Avoiding Corn in Canada
Avoiding Corn in CanadaAvoiding Corn in Canada is meant to be a convenient source and summary of information about corn-derived products for the use of people with known or suspected corn sensitivity, and for the health care professionals who have to deal with them. It is not intended to replace the advice of health care professionals, but to supplement it.
Avoiding Corn in Canada is unique among corn allergy web sites in that it
- provides links and accurate citations to current scientific, government policy and industry literature so that users can determine for themselves whether a product contains corn (it's not just a long, sourceless list of products that “may contain” corn)
- provides information on how to obtain corn-free medications
- is bilingual (English/French)
- provides information on food labelling laws and the names for corn in other countries to make travel easier for corn allergy sufferers, and
- pertains specifically to the laws and market situation in Canada, but provides a model for how corn allergy sufferers in other countries can find the information they want where they live.
Please see the sections discussing prescription medications and everyday sources of corn, “How can you be allergic to glucose or fructose?”, Corn in medications and special dietary preparations, and Corn in everyday life. Your corn-sensitive patients will thank you for helping to keep them safe.
Information about food and drug labeling on this page applies specifically to the regulations in force in Canada. These regulations may not reflect the terminology for corn derivatives, procedures for obtaining corn-free prescription medications, or any other aspects of dealing with products that may contain corn that may be used in other countries. For instance, most American web sites about corn allergy list vinegar as a product corn-sensitive people should avoid, whereas in Canada only malt vinegar may contain corn and other types of vinegar are not made with corn products. (The document linked to here is section B.19.005 of Canada's Food and Drug Regulations. Sections B.19.001-B.19.009 deal with vinegar).
I am not out to say nasty things about people or companies, etc. who produce or consume corn products. I also do not believe that there is a “cornspiracy” to make life difficult for corn-sensitive people. Corn can be and is made into all kinds of useful products (such as plastic food containers, strengtheners for plastics, and compostable water bottles), and it's relatively cheap to produce. Its popularity is no surprise to me.
I strive to keep the information on this site as up-to-date and as accurate as possible. Please report broken links or errors to me at st dot scharf at utoronto dot ca.
Finally, I am not responsible for the contents of other web sites accessible from links from Cornfree.ca.
