Corn Free Travel: To Baltimore and Back Again

Subtitle: Traveling When You are Allergic to the World

When you say something like, “I really hope I survive this trip I’m taking,” people assume it is hyperbole. I mean sure, we could all be hit by a car or struck by falling airplane shrapnel at any second, but in general, for *most* people, the actual possibility of death due to circumstances completely beyond our control is not a reality.

But when you have an anaphylactic and highly sensitive allergy to something that is found in body and personal care products, laundry products, water treatment chemicals, sanitizers, cleaners, fuels, and antimicrobial agents, it’s actually *not* hyperbole. I haven’t yet had an anaphylactic reaction to airborne–versus ingested–corn, but I’ve definitely had severe enough reactions (tongue and lip swelling) to demonstrate that it’s a possibility. So yes, I could literally die due to what someone else is releasing into the air via machinery or aerosol. That could realistically happen.

It’s pretty heavy when you really think about it, and I have no advice for coping with the weight of that. I just mostly do what I have to do and try not to think about it. I have my precautions in place as far as taking preventative medications and carrying emergency medications and gear on my person at all times and hope for the best. Once the precautions are in place, I mostly cope by just pretending it’s not happening.

I do well enough most days. There are a lot of things I’m not able to do anymore that I used to be able to, such as eating in restaurants or drinking in bars, and while I’m not happy about that, there really isn’t much to be done so I don’t see much of a point in complaining about it. I just do what I have to do.

As much as this allergy has shaped my life, I still don’t have to be entirely defined by it. I still have my hobbies and my career, at least mostly. Researching my health issues to figure out the next step to take takes up more of my time than I’d like, and I honestly can’t focus on work 24/7 the way I used to, and I can’t go out to lunch or happy hour with my coworkers or potential employers, so networking gets a little awkward. But I’m doing okay so far, for the most part.

One of my hobbies in the past has involved world travel for specific events related to my music fandom. In particular, I have gone to the same music festival in downtown Baltimore, Maryland every Memorial Day weekend since 2010. I started making plans for the 2013 festival almost as soon as I returned from the last one in 2012 . This year the possibility of being able to make the trip safely was looking pretty slim, though. I started getting more sensitive to traces of corn in food right after I returned from the festival last summer, and by midwinter I was reacting to more foods than I didn’t, and even reacting to *water*. I was unsure as to how I could possibly navigate a cross-country trip safely.

But you know, I’m pretty stubborn and pretty resourceful, and this was really important to me. So I made it happen. Here’s a breakdown of the challenges involved for me.

Continue reading “Corn Free Travel: To Baltimore and Back Again” →

Preventing and Treating Allergic Reactions:

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How I Treat Reactions

Updated 12/2017:  I’ve edited this a bit to be more generalized because my specific methods have had to change due to my MCAS and G6PDD. 

Obviously I do my best to make safe decisions and not react. That’s what this blog is all about. But there are circumstances out of my control pretty often, especially since I have dangerous reactions to airborne corn, and honestly yeah, I do just screw up. My diet is pretty limited right now so I *have* to try new things. I am usually very careful and when a food fails I only deal with a very mild reaction before I call it quits, but sometimes I mess up, and sometimes the food is SO corny that trying only small amount causes a major reaction.

Here are some general things to try if you do react. This is loosely based on The Mastocytosis Society protocol, which even though it is for mast cell disease, can easily be applied to “regular” allergic reactions as well.

Note that all of my medications need to be compounded. This is due to corn derivatives found in many premade medications. Manufacturers and pharmacies may say that these derivatives cannot cause a corn reaction because the “proteins have been processed out”, but it has been demonstrated by those with corn allergies over and over that they DO react to these derivatives. Further, cross contamination during manufacture can cause an issue for the most sensitive even if the ingredients themselves are not sourced from corn. Add in multiple sensitivities, and you will probably have a very hard time with most excipients and inactive ingredients in medications. Here’s more info on how to find out the inactive ingredients in your meds.

The “magic formula” for treating reactions is:

  • An H1 antihistamine.  First generation antihistamines such as benadryl, or hydroxyzine would be the best bet for a strong reaction or a reaction involving neurological or mood changes, since these cross the blood-brainb arrier.  Typical is 25-50 mg for both. The max dose for hydroxyzine is higher than benadryl, but benadryl has some qualities that make it the prime choice for a reaction if it can be tolerated. More information on getting corn-free benadryl. Second generation antihistamines such as ceterizine (zyrtec), levocetirizine (xyzal), fexofenadine (allegra) may be a good choice for a less strong reaction
  • An H2 inhibitor, such as ranitidine (zantac) or famotidine (pepcid). This increases the effectiveness of the H1.
  • A mast cell stabillizer, such as cromolyn sodium or quercetin.  This *may* help prevent rebound reactions.
  • A steroid, such as methylprednisolone, prednisone, or dexmethasone. These should be used rarely and sparingly as side effects such as Addison’s disease and Cushing’s syndrome are a very real risk with steroid use.

Important: If you are having an anaphylactic reaction, simply taking these meds is not enough.  No antihistamine will stop anaphylaxis once it starts. The only thing that treats anaphylaxis is epinephrine. It is common hospital practice to adminster benadryl and “wait and see,” but this is NOT the correct treatment and can and has led to deaths.

If you are in doubt, epi. If you epi, always go to the hospital. 

Mayo Clinic Article on how to treat anaphylaxis


Manitoba, Canada public health department info in treating anaphylaxis

A Simple handout on how to recognize and treat anaphylaxis

An overview of the effects of anaphylaxis on the body

Rebound Reactions

When you have an allergic reaction, your body is flooded with histamines which run around creating inflammation all over your body. The actual symptoms of the reactions are due to your various cells’ response to the histamine. Antihistamines like benadryl simply block the receptors on your various cells that would notice and respond to the histamine. That means that when they wear off, if there is still histamine in your system, your cells will start responding again. This is known as a rebound.

I don’t have any scientific evidence of this, but it seems logical that a mast cell stabilizer may help to reduce the chance of a rebound reaction. Mast cell stabilizers actually help prevent the release of histamine in the first place, which *should* help prevent rebound reactions as the antihistamines wear off. I have noticed that it helps me.

Detoxing

After a reaction it will usually take me at least a day to recover, sometimes up to 10 days if it was a bad one. If I had to epi and go to the ER, I could be toxxed out for *weeks*. My tongue will burn every time I eat something and I will just feel like I’m mild-to-medium reacting constantly, or about to react. I call it “feeling full-buckety.” There’s no real cure for this other than time and lots of water, but there are a few things I do to help move the toxins out of my system faster.

How I Detox After A Reaction

  •  Bentonite clay baths or foot soaks in clay from Living Clay Company. I have only tried the pure bentonite clay (sold as the “detox clay powder”) and not any other products. I am on their mailing list and wait until they have free shipping promotions and then order large quantities at a time. I rarely have time for a full bath but I find that the foot soaks are 80% as effective as a full bath and easy to do often.
  • Bentonite Clay taken internally, with LOTS of water, to help absorb toxins/allergens and move them through the system faster.  I find this works better than activated charcoal at detoxing after a reaction, but I am mentioning both options.
  • Activated Charcoal, taken internally, for the same purpose as the bentonite clay. Again, lots of water to flush it through your system!  I am no longer recommending a specific brand of activated charcoal because the manufacturers keep changing what they do. You’ll need to do some research and find something that works for you.
  • Epsom salt baths and foot soaks- I am sulfur sensitive so I don’t do this anymore but it does help many. Dr Teal’s  unscented epsom salts are available at Kroger, Costco, Target, and on Amazon, and are safe for most.

A Note on Prevention

As i mentioned, antihistamines block the receptors that stimulate your mast cells to release histamines. Therefore blocking those receptors does not reduce the histamines already in your system, nor does it stop the inflammatory processes already happening from histamines that have already found a cell to stimulate. Thus it is better used to *prevent* reactions. Obviously avoiding triggers is the best bet, but something else I do is to take both antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers in advance when I know I am going into a dicey situation. Now, I don’t mean that I take antihistamines and then eat something bad. That’s stupid and dangerous. I just mean that if I think I am going somewhere where I could have an airborne exposure, (like Costco on a weekend when all the food samples are out)  or if I am in a situation where small children will be climbing all over me and possibly trying to stick hands and objects in my mouth, I take some appropriate precautions.

Before I go in to a potentially allergenic situation, I take:

  • 5 mg levocetrizine (xyzal)
  • 150mg zantac

I can still take up to 100mg of hydroxyzine on top of this. (It’s very sedating so I stick with 50mg or less typically). I avoid benadryl due to g6pdd one could also take up to 50mg of benadryl as well.

A Note on Zantac: Antacids to treat allergic reactions??!

When I have gone to the ER for an allergic reaction, they have given me two intravenous injections: Benadryl (diphenhydramine), and Zantac (ranitidine). The first time I got an injection of Zantac, I was totally confused. Isn’t that a medication for acid reflux?

Well, yes it is, but the mechanism by which it does that is by blocking (antagonizing) histamine receptors.  Compare to proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec (omeprazole).  Prilosec actually stops the production of stomach acid, while Zantac stops the signals for gastric acid secretion *and* allergic reactions from being noticed.

H1 and H2 blockers taken together are significantly more effective in treating an allergic reaction than either one taken on their own. 

Because of this, a number of folks with anaphylactic food allergies take a daily preventative H1 and H2 blocker.  I’m one of them. I don’t hope to be on this kind of medication for the rest of my life. For one thing, H2 blockers have a number of effects on vitamin and mineral absorption over the long timer, including interfering with absorption of vitamin B12. Also, taking drugs just masks symptoms, and I’d much rather find the cause of the problem and heal. But I’m totally okay with doing it right now to reduce the possibility of a life-threatening reaction.

Daily Medications- when you can’t avoid your allergens

I encourage you to avoid all of the allergens you can avoid. But if you can’t, such as if your allergens are in the air, it may be wise to take medication daily to help reduce the possibility of a severe/anaphylactic reaction from an unexpected exposure.

Typical daily allergy meds are:

  • A non-drowsy H1 antihistamine such as levocetirizine (xyzal), cetirizine (zyrtec), fexofenadine (allegra), or loratadine (claritin). In many cases, you can actually safely take more than the label recommended amount of these meds. Check with your pharmacist.
  • An h2 antihistamine such as ranitidine (zantac) or famotidine (pepcid).
  • A mast cell stabilizer such as quercetin, nettle, or cromolyn sodium.

The only pharmaceutical medication I currently use daily is a prescription mast cell stabilizer, antihistamine, and leukotrine inhibiter called ketotifen fumarate. It helps me so much that I’ve quit taking the cromolyn and don’t need any other daily antihistamines. Ketotifen does have some side effects, including sedation and weight gain, so it is not a first choice medication for me for those reasons. However it has really allowed me  more freedom to exist in the world without fearing for my life from a reaction to what someone else decides to eat or wear.

During heavy environmental allergy season, I also take:

  • 10mg levocetirizine (xyzal), compounded in a gelatin capsule daily.
  • 150mg ranitidine, compounded in a gelatin capsule, no filler, twice daily

If I am traveling or know I will be exposed to a lot of triggers, I go ahead and take a prophylactic hydroxyzine in the morning and at night. The hydroxyzine is compounded and I take 25mg at the same time as the ranitidine, morning and night.  More if needed. More on what I do when I travel.

About getting Xyzal compounded.

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Where’s the Corn in Non-Food Products?

Last updated: June 2, 2013

This research was originally done by the creator of the blog called Hidden Corn. This blog is no longer maintained as the author  was no longer keeping up on the newest developments. I wanted it to remain available for people, so I took the data over and am soliciting help from a trusted friend to keep it up to date. We are making changes and additions as we note missing or outdated information.  Please comment or email me at cornallergygirl@gmail.com  if you see anything that is incorrect, or any broken links.

3D PRINTER INK: The two available “inks” for 3D printers are ABS and PLA. PLA is polylactic acid, made from corn starch.

AIRBAGS: Automobile airbags are lubricated with either cornstarch or talc. When the airbag deploys, the cornstarch or talc is also ejected in a fine powder that looks like smoke.

ADHESIVES / GUMMED PAPERS: The adhesive can be derived from corn.

ART SUPPLIES: Especially those geared towards kids, can contain corn-based ingredients, as these are generally considered to be a low allergy-risk (ha!) and non-toxic, as compared to petroleum-based ingredients. (source: News for Corn Avoiders)

BALLOONS: Can contain a dusting of cornstarch inside to keep the balloon from sticking to itself. (source: News for Corn Avoiders)

BEACH BALLS: Can contain a dusting of cornstarch inside to keep the ball from sticking to itself. (source: News for Corn Avoiders)

CARDBOARD: Many corrugated cardboards contain corn in some form or fashion. Keep in mind things like kids’ playhouses can sometimes include, or be made entirely of, corrugated cardboard. (source: News for Corn Avoiders)

Continue reading “Where’s the Corn in Non-Food Products?” →

Where’s the Corn in Medical Supplies and Equipment?

Last updated: December 2022

This research was originally done by the creator of the blog called Hidden Corn. This blog is no longer maintained as the author  was no longer keeping up on the newest developments. I wanted it to remain available for people, so I took the data over and am soliciting help from a trusted friend to keep it up to date. We are making changes and additions as we note missing or outdated information.  Please comment or email me at cornallergygirl@gmail.com  if you see anything that is incorrect, or any broken links.

I know it is difficult to prioritize something that has not happened yet when you’re trying to find safe food to eat, but PLEASE do your research and try to assemble a care plan BEFORE you have an emergency. Figuring this stuff out when you’re actually in the ER is really difficult and it’s easy to miss things.

Hospital And Medical Safety with a Corn Allergy

Emergency Room Safety with a Corn Allergy

Spreadsheet With Brief Research On Specific Drugs for Surgery

ADHESIVES: Corn starch is frequently used in adhesives. Many 3m brand medical dressings seem to work best for both latex and corn allergy people, but this is likely to come down to individual sensitivity.

ANTIBIOTICS: Corn is almost always the growth medium. There isn’t any avoiding this. If you need antibiotics, you’ll have to simply medicate to avoid a severe reaction.  Typical pre-medication would be an H1 antihistamine such as benadryl, an H2 antihistamine such as zantac or pepcid, and perhaps a prophylactic steroid. (Make sure you have corn free versions of all these!)  When taking any medication, you need to determine what the inactive ingredients are and from what they’re derived to choose something that is as corn-free as possible.  If you have time, it may be best to have your medications compounded to be as corn free as possible. Another option may be to use the intravenous version and that has a corn free ingredients list. Cross reference with the corn derivatives list  Keep in mind that even if the ingredients “look safe” you may still react to consider asking to trial a small amount of the medication before doing a full dose.

BODY BAGS: Can be made from corn. (source: Corn-Free Lifestyle)

BLOOD BAGS/BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS: Contain corn-based anticoagulants, specifically dextrose and citric acid. (2) If you need a blood transfusion, you need to medicate with a steroid, an h1 antihistamine such as benadryl, and an h2 anithistamine such as zantac or pepcid.  More info on premedication in my Hospital Safety post.

BLOOD PRESSURE CUFFS: Some folks report skin reactions due to the sanitizers used on these between patients. Bring the sleeve of an old t-shirt to put between you and the cuff if you have the presence of mind or have them take your BP over your shirt if you have sleeves on.

CT SCAN CONTRAST: The contrast solution, if flavored, will probably contain corn derivatives. Look for a contrast with the least amount of ingredients possible (will probably be unflavored), to be mixed in plain water. Ingredients should also be checked for IV contrasts. Note: reactions to CT contrast are common even in people without allergies, so radiologists may be more likely to understand concerns about reactions and have a protocol should you react.

DENTAL VISITS:  Pretty much all of the products used at a dental visit can be corny, from the medications and products themselves to the paper and gloves used for sanitation. Dental health is very important though, and many many corn allergics have managed safe dental care.  More on corn free dental care: Corn Allergy Safety at the Dentist.

FLUIDOTHERAPY / HAND THERAPY:  The cellulose used in Fluidotherapy machines used by some hand therapists is made from ground corn cobs. 

HAND SANITIZER: Almost all hand sanitizer contains ethanol from corn, and even not very sensitive people will have airborne reactions to corn-derived ethanol. Hand sanitizers also frequently contain scents which can be a concern for corn or chemical sensitivity. They will also contain inactive ingredients  that are often from corn such as glycerin that may cause a contact reaction if someone touches you after using it.  If staff insists on using hand sanitizer near you ask them to wear (powder free) gloves afterwards.

HAND SOAP: Almost all liquid hand soaps contain glycerin which may be from corn as well as citric acid and other ingredients commonly derived from corn. If you are skin-reactive, you may have a contact reaction to someone touching you who has used these soaps, or if you are highly airborne reactive you may have issues breathing near someone who has used them. Here is one example ingredients list from an antimicrobial soap used in surgical settings.

GLOVES: Powdered surgical and exam gloves are often powdered with corn starch. Effective Jan 19, 2017 the US FDA has banned the sale and use of powdered surgical and exam gloves, so that’s good news for us corn allergy sufferers. It make take some time for full compliance, and non-medical settings may still make use of them.

INTRAVENOUS SOLUTIONS: Lactated Ringers’ solution contains sodium lactate, which is made from lactic acid. Lactic acid isn’t *always* fermented on corn sugar but several of the major distributors of the product do use corn sugar. Given the volume of production of sodium lactate for medical purposes I doubt there’d be a way to know for sure which supplier the lactic acid came from. Additionally dextrose/glucose is often added to intravenous solutions and injectables. Ask for a saline IV fluid.  If you are inpatient, consider making signs to hang on the IV stand stating no lactated ringers and no dextrose as nurses will not always check your charts at shift change or will mix you up with other patients. Realize that the nurses may still not read the IV stand and remind them. Train an advocate such as a family member or close friend before you need one to help remind them!

Get a copy of the inactive ingredients and compare any IV or oral med you take to the corn derivative list. 

INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN (IVIG):

Here is the list of IVIG meds I was able to get:
  • IBivigam
  • Carimune
  • Flebogamma
  • Gammagard S/D [low IgA]
  • Gammagard Liquid
  • Gammaked
  • Gammaplex
  • Gamunex
  • Octagam and Privigen
Of these, I found several forms that contained dextrose, maltose, or sorbitol all of which are corn derivatives. These were the Gammagard S/D, IBivigam, Gammaplex, and Octagam.
There are several that look like they may not have corny inactive ingredients  if their DailyMed pages are accurate. Note that I did already find that one (Octagam) had maltose (def a corn sugar) that was not listed on DailyMed so I would double check all of these.
Ingredients I found in these “safer” looking IVIG products:
  • glycine which is synthesized either by amination of chloroacetic acid with ammonia or reaction of an aldehyde with ammonium chloride in the presence of potassium cyanide (Strecker synthesis). Note that chloroacetic acid *is* made with acetic acid which will be from corn. This would be something that some people might tolerate since it is very processed away from the original source, and others might not. It may also be possible that there are acetic acid sources which are not from corn depending on the supplier.
  •  proline which is synthesized from diethyl malonate and acrylonitrile
  • sucrose which is a sugar from beets or cane.

NON-MEDICINAL INGREDIENTS aka Preservatives and Excipients: Go HERE to read an excellent article about corn derivatives used in non-medicinal ingredients. The article was in the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia’s May/June 2007 newsletter; it may be an older newsletter, but the information is still extremely applicable!

MEDICATIONS: Inactive ingredients of pills, injections, and topical products may contain corn. Get package inserts and compare the active and inactive ingredients with the corn derivative list. Finding the Inactive Ingredients of Medications.  In many cases you may need to have a medication custom made to be corn free. This is called “compounding.” Getting Medications Compounded. Finding a Compounding Pharmacy.

PLASMA: Plasma is diluted with 1 part citrate phosphate dextrose (CPD) anticoagulant to 4 parts plasma on collection. The CPD is corny due to the citrate (from citric acid) and the dextrose (corn sugar).

PLASTER CASTS: Plaster casts are made from muslin that have dextrose (corn sugar) and “starch” (likely corn starch) added. Opt for fiberglass or air casts instead.

PREFILLED SALINE FLUSHES for IV lines and catheters contain a preservative. Staff needs to get a vial of plain saline and draw it into a syringe and use that to flush your line.

SANITIZERS: I don’t have a source on why anti-microbial floor and surface cleaners in hospitals seem to be a concern for people who are airborne reactive to corn, but reports from the corn allergy community, and my personal experience show that they are. Some contain ethanol from corn, some don’t. It may be that corn allergics are often also chemically sensitive. All I know is that even when I can’t smell any cleaners in hospitals, I react the entire time I’m inside on just from breathing the air, and many other airborne-reactive corn allergics experience the same. I wear a carbon filter mask, and if in-patient, ask for them to only mop the floor in my room with water. I also bring in a HEPA filter for my room and run that and put a sign on the door to keep the door closed at all times, even if just coming in for a second.

SUTURES: Absorbable sutures may be made from PLA or polylactic acid, which is frequently made from corn.  I am told some non-dissolvable sutures may be dusted with corn starch, although I have no source to prove this. I have also heard reports of those with corn allergies reacting to sutures that should be corn-free, so exercise caution.

SYNTHETIC INGREDIENTS: If you are attempting to determine the source of an ingredient and are told it’s “synthetic,” don’t let that be the end of the line in your questioning or you will be taking a risk that your medication might contain a corny ingredient. See if you can find out which raw ingredients are used in the chemical process that creates the synthetic ingredient.

TUBING FOR OXYGEN MASKS: You may react, I don’t know if this is  corn starch dusting or what. Ask to have them wiped or rinsed with water.

TONGUE DEPRESSORS: Can be made from corn. (source: Corn-Free Lifestyle)

Where’s the Corn in Foods?

Where’s the Corn in Foods?

Last updated: April 15, 2016

This research was originally done by the creator of the blog called Hidden Corn. This blog is no longer maintained as the author  was no longer keeping up on the newest developments. I wanted it to remain available for people, so I took the data over and am soliciting help from a trusted friend to keep it up to date. We are making changes and additions as we note missing or outdated information.  Please comment or email me at cornallergygirl@gmail.com  if you see anything that is incorrect, or any broken links.

Continue reading “Where’s the Corn in Foods?” →

Allergy Accessories: Epipen Carriers

When ya gotta carry an epipen, you might as well do it in style. I have a few different things I do for hauling around my Allergy Accoutrements.

I keep two epipens in my bag at all times. I keep them in a waterproof Pelican 1030 Micro Case along with a lip balm tin containing compounded Benadryl capsules. I taped the prescription for the benadryl to the top of the tin so that any official type person can see what the pills are. I thought keeping it in a waterproof case might be overkill, but the day after I finally got it, I had a major water bottle leak in my purse and would have lost $50 of Benadryl, if not the $250 of epipens.

Untitled

For longer trips, I keep two *more* epipens, plus spare inhalers, and a spare bottle of Benadryl in another, larger Pelican 1050 Micro Case.

Untitled

And for concerts and other short outings where it really isn’t feasible to carry a big purse or backpack, I bring the following items in a utility belt:
leather epi pen holster

  • 1 EpiPen 
  • Lip Balm case of Benadryl
  • Albuterol Inhaler
  • Small squeeze bottle of liquid soap for washing hands
  • Carbon filter face mask kept in a ziploc bag, for aiborne corn: popcorn, fog machines, ethanol fumes, or people wearing a ton of perfume.
  • A black bandana/handkerchief for wiping hands, blowing nose, whatever.
  • If I think I’ll need it, a flattened end of a roll of toilet paper, because yes, toilet paper is often corny, and that is not a reaction you want to have.

leather epi pen holsterleather epi pen holster

My setup is very rock and roll, but there are MANY ways to make carrying this kind of stuff around cute. There are many, many manufacturers of utility belts on Etsy and elsewhere- most of them seem to specifically mention being for Burning Man. I got my utility belt from Gekko London via their Etsy Shop. The workmanship is quality, the pockets were the right size for what I needed, and bonus: The total price for the belt, including shipping to the US, was only 47 GBP! That’s a *steal* for that kind of work, I tell you!

My epipen holster is also from Etsy, specifically from Dennis Doaty Leathercraft. A word of caution: This holster looks badass because it looks like a weapon holster. That’s intentional. Security guards will think it is a weapon. If you are going to wear it in to an event where a weapon would be a problem, walk UP to security holding the epipen separate from the empty holster in your hand, and keep them in your hands until you are all the way through security. Otherwise you will need to tell every single security guard on your way in what it is, and some of them may actually lay hands on you to find out what it is. Can you tell I know this from experience? You may wish to just get a less badass looking epipen case. There are still lots of cute and less threatening-looking options out there.

 

Corn-tamination Series: Coffee

Here are the potential areas for corn to get into coffee:

  • Bean fermentation/processing: “Wet process” coffee introduces a ton of opportunities for corn-tamination, not the least of which being fermentation of the beans which could involve starter culture microbes that have been fed corn-derived sugar or possibly–and this is just a speculation as I don’t know the details– even some additional corn sugar to the beans to encourage the microbes to grow.  Additionally there are all kinds of machines and washes used along the way for wet processing that could introduce at least cross-contamination if not actual kernels of corn: A roaster I once emailed told me that they occasionally found kernels of corn in the roaster, presumably from the burlap bags the beans came in having been reused.
  • Roasting: Corn-derived disinfectants, flavorings, or preservatives may be added to the beans before roasting. 
  • Husking and Polishing: The beans are husked and may be polished on machinery to make them shiny. 
  • Decaffeination: Chemicals used in the decaffeination process are corn-derived. There is a chemical-free process called the Swiss Water Process that isn’t really corn-safe even for the medium-sensitive, but it at least reduces the danger of cross contamination of the caffeinated coffee.
  • Cross-contamination: Shared facilities/equipment with coffee that is chemically decaffeinated or flavored can contaminate the caffeinated/unflavored coffee beans. Additionally burlap bags are often re-used and you will sometimes find whole kernels of corn in with the coffee beans.  Roasting equipment and facilities may be cleaned with corny chemicals, or may be shared with other food items besides coffee.
  • Brewing: Paper coffee filters will often be corntaminated, even the unbleached organic kind. Stick with reusable filters. Reusable filters could possibly be made from corny plastic or be impregnated with antimicrobials. The safest option is probably a stainless-and-glass french press.
  • Packaging:  Paper coffee bags are usually lined with PLA , which is a plastic made from corn starch. Ingeo is a brand name for PLA. Foil bags can be dusted with corn starch or oiled with corn oil to keep them from sticking.

How to Find Safe Coffee

Here’s my approach:

  1. Look for small coffee roasters who have single-origin coffees. This is both to avoid cross contamination  with things like flavored coffees and because they are more likely to be willing and able to answer questions.
  2. Make sure they do not use PLA-lined or cornstarch-dusted bags, and that they do not use powdered (cornstarch-dusted) gloves in their facilities.

From there I honestly usually just trial carefully. Ideally they will have detailed reports on each variety with processing notes such as wet or dry process available on request or just published on theirs on their website, but I personally have not found that wet processing matters that much and have tolerated many wet-process coffees. However if I did react to a specific roast I would love having that info so I could guess at what the issue was. I think I’d have to like, be there and see them roasting to really know what would be an issue. Which is something I’ve been welcomed to do with local roasters, I just haven’t had time. I could definitely get way more into detail on what they do in their facilities after they get the green beans, but I honestly haven’t found that them answering every question I have right increases my chance to tolerate the coffee by much.

What I’ve found personally helps a lot with tolerating coffee I react to only very mildly is literally rinsing my beans in water and then dehydrating them after. This is probably a chemical sensitivity thing and may have more to do with my water issue than my corn allergy, and is also probably really an offensive idea to coffee snobs- myself included. But it’s the difference between being able to drink coffee safely or not, and I sure love coffee. I’ve not yet found a coffee that I *don’t* need to do this to, personally, and I’ve tried a lot of them.

Last edited March 9, 2021

Corn Free Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

So far I have not found a completely corn-free automatic dishwasher detergent. The corn-litest of them at least contain citric acid from corn. The citric acid does seem to rinse off pretty well, and many people can and do get away with using detergent that contains it. I just got tired of looking at my dishes funny and feeling like I needed to hand wash them again before I used them.

This recipe is based on a common recipe on various frugal living and natural beauty type blogs. The main difference is that those recipes also call for citric acid. I did do some searching to try to find a corn-free version of citric acid powder. It does exist, however it was an industrial supplier and I highly doubt that they’d fill orders for small quantities. I never called to really find that out though. I just gave up and found a safe-enough-for-me lemon juice, the ingredients of which are only lemons. Lemons naturally contain citric acid. The idea to just use lemon juice came from Meg from the Facebook Corn Allergy & Intolerance group.

Anyway, here’s what I arrived upon:

Homemade Corn-free Dishwasher Detergent

Dry Ingredients
2 cup borax
2 cup washing soda
1 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)

Keep separately
Santa Cruz Pure Lemon Juice

Mix together dry ingredients and put into a jar or pitcher for storage.

When it’s time to run the dishwasher, add 3 tbsp of the dry powder to the detergent bin, and then add about 1-2 tbsp lemon juice in with the dry powder. Fill the rinse aid compartment with safe-for-you vinegar (I use homemade kombucha vinegar.)  I also liberally splash vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher as a rinse aid/descaler. I run my dishes on the “heavy wash” cycle every single time because it just makes me feel more confident that it’s removing any corny residue from my boyfriend’s food or just the general ambient corn of my workplace.

If you find that your dishes have a white film on them after washing, splash vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher before running, as well. This stuff works as well for me as the corny dish detergents I was previously using, and even better than some of them. It works *way* better than the Trader Joe’s dishwasher detergent, and it does not leave a white film on my dishes except for on rare occasion when I place things in the dishwasher poorly and they don’t get rinsed well.

However others who have tried this recipe report that it doesn’t work- the dishes stay dirty, the white film is impossible to get rid of, etc. No idea. It works for me.

Product notes

Lemon juice: I personally wouldn’t drink the Santa Cruz lemon juice. I think it’s on the safe list and the ingredients look safe, I just don’t trust juices. But I’m fine with using it in the dish washer.

Washing soda: This is *not* the same as baking soda. Baking soda is sodium bi-carbonate, and washing soda is sodium carbonate. You can buy washing soda from the laundry section of your local grocery store, but you can also just make baking soda into washing soda by heating it up.

Borax: I use 20 Mule team, from the grocery store. There are some concerns about the safety of using borax to wash your dishes, since borax isn’t edible. I would highly encourage you to read a few articles and blog posts about the safety of it. I read a bit, and came to the same conclusion as Crunchy Betty: It’s safe enough for me.   Please do your own research and make your own decisions.

Kosher Salt: I use Diamond Crystal brand.

Treating Allergic Reactions: Corn-free Benadryl

The go-to drug for treating a severe allergic reaction is diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl.  Unfortunately, there is no corn-free version of this drug available off the shelf. Benadryl dye-free liquigels contain sorbitol from corn. Benadryl children’s liquid formula contains glycerin and sucrose from corn. Many generic store-brand versions of Benadryl, such as Wal-dryl, contain corn starch.  All of these are derivatives that would send me to the hospital, especially if I were already reacting when I took them.

The only way to get truly corn-free Benadryl at this time is to get it made specially for you by a compounding pharmacy. This isn’t a post on how to do that, but there is a very nice blog post on getting medications compounded on the News For Corn Avoiders blog. Here are my additional notes on compounding medications and here is some advice on finding a compounding pharmacy.

Another possibility, though it requires a prescription, would be to get a prescription for an injectable version of Benadryl, and then drink it.This is an off-label usage but I am told it works just fine and will be relatively corn free. (It is in water though so if you react to some waters it may not be 100% safe for you.) Always check ingredients. There are probably several versions of the injectable Benadryl and all of them may not be corn free.

When I got my first Benadryl prescription compounded, I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the pharmacist deciding on ingredients used in my prescription. The pharmacist assured me that the microcrystalline cellulose they used for a filler in capsules was corn free. It was not. I got $50 worth of pills I reacted to worse than the corny off the shelf meds, and they wouldn’t take them back or give me my money back. I had very very recently gotten much more sensitive to corn products at that time, and was reacting constantly so feeling very sick and muddled while trying to hold down a full time job, and just did not have the mental energy to get it done right. I just gave up on getting medications compounded.

But I had to have something for reactions. Fortunately, I was still able to take one version of over the counter Benadryl and have it do more good than harm. While I am not *the most* sensitive corn allergic person in the world, I am pretty sensitive, and my reactions are pretty dramatic. However there are some derivatives I react to less than others.

This stuff has *lots* of corn ingredients, but for me the derivatives are ones that don’t cause huge reactions:

Alka-Seltzer Plus Allergy. Active ingredient: diphenhydramine hcl 25mg. Inactive ingredients:  croscarmellose sodium, D&C red #27 aluminum lake, dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, talc, titanium dioxide.

I also found this”sleep aid” which is actually benadryl- the inactive ingredient, diphenhydramine, and the dosage, 25mg, is the same ingredient and dosage as benadryl.

Walgreens Sleep II Nightime Sleep Aid. Active ingredient: diphenhydramine hcl 25mg. Inactive Ingredients: Croscarmellose Sodium, Dicalcium Phosphate, FD&C Blue #1 Aluminum Lake, Magnesium Stearate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Silicon Dioxide, Stearic Acid


Both of these products still have  a number of ingredients that could be (and often are) from corn. I’ve bolded them. They are definitely *not* corn free. It is the same drug as Benadryl, just a different brand. When I was VERY desperate, I was able to take them for reactions and they helped more than they harmed. I would definitely feel some reaction right when I took them, but once they kicked in the antihistamine effect would overtake the reaction. 

Getting compounded Benadryl made a world of difference though- it works faster and leaves me feeling much less hung over. A good portion of the effectiveness of the drug was previously being spent on counteracting the corn in the pills themselves.

But if you are ever in a very bad spot, you may find that there are some versions of the drug off the shelf that you can tolerate enough to help you out when you are reacting severely.

Note that which version will work best for you will depend heavily on what derivatives bug you. The liquigels contain sorbitol, so are a bad choice for me as sorbitol in toothpaste sent me to the ER once. Granted the quantity in the liquigels is probably small but I just skipped it because of the toothpaste reaction. Others may do better with that tiny amount of sorbitol versus the inactive ingredients in the product pictured above. Please choose carefully, use good sense, and consult your physician.

For those that are allergic to benadryl (this does happen), another option is hydroxyzine hcl (atarax) or hydroxyzine pamoate (vistaril). Atarax is more commonly prescribed for allergies, Vistaril is more commonly prescriped for anxiety. Both forms help both allergy and anxiety. They also are comparably as strong of antihistamines as benadryl. They do tend to sedate more then benadryl, but not everyone experiences this.  Hydroxyzine is prescription only. You would need to either get it compounded or identify a brand and manufacturer that does not contain corn, or does not contain *much* corn. You can use these instructions for finding the inactive ingredients of medications to try to identify something that might be safe.

Corn-tamination Series: Salt

Salt sounds like such a pure product, but actually *most* brands available for sale in the grocery store cause issues for those with corn allergies, even those of medium sensitivity. The below statements apply to sea salt and table salt both:

  • Packaging: Cardboard, especially recycled cardboard can contain corn fibers and may be dusted with corn starch to prevent it sticking together. Plastic may contain polymers from corn starch or may be dusted or oiled with corn products to prevent sticking.
  • Ingredients: Iodized salt contains dextrose from corn to help the iodine stick to the salt crystals. Non-iodized salt often contains an anti-caking agent, which may not be directly from corn but often causes more sensitive corn allergics to react, probably due to cross contamination.
  • Cross contamination: Companies that mine/extract/synthesize and package salt often produce a number of different products. Cargill is one example. Many of those products contain corny ingredients, and cross contamination is possible in the facilities.

The most sensitive folks with corn allergies actually have a very, very hard time with salt. In fact there is NO salt product out there that SOME corn allergic person hasn’t reacted to. Not one. You just have to pick some best bets based on who has reacted and how much their particular sensitivity matches yours, as people react differently to different derivatives.

What works for many people who cannot tolerate any pre-ground salt is to get a slab of himalayan salt intended for cooking, or large chunks of himalyan salt and rinse the outside under safe water for long enough to remove a layer from the exterior (presumably washing any contaminants down the drain with that layer), and then let it dry again and use a large blunt implement to whack the salt down into coarse chunks which you can load into a grinder. I use a large mortar and pestle designed for guacamole for this.   DO NOT STICK LARGE ROCKS OF SALT INTO YOUR BLENDER, not even if you have a Vitamix or Blendtec.  These are essentially rocks and will bust a hole through the side of your blender jar. If you get the rocks down to gravel sized that should be fine for the blender however.

Another technique I’ve been using lately is to use the chunks, rinse the outside, and then stick them in a jar full of water and shake it around to make a strong salt solution. This is much easier, but can be a bit difficult to measure how much salt to use. Full credit to Marci for this particular innovation.