<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Thank you to everyone who replied for sharing honestly and from the heart.
Your experiences have assured me that I'm not alone in my sensitivity to both
gluten containing grains and corn. However, these two sensitivities may or
may not be related.
What prompted all of this? GF products advertised on this list enticed me to
visit a few websites to have a look. Of course, I immediately go to the
ingredients (as I'm sure that we all do) and then am dismayed to find that
nearly all products contain corn in some form. Kim T. in her reply echoed my
sentiments exactly:
"It is HARD to find anything to eat--I don't know why they all contain
corn."
Even when you do find a product that is not made with corn, if the company
also sells products that are made with corn, you have to wonder about the
cross contamination issue. Do products that do not contain corn in their
ingredients, contain traces due to being milled, processed, or baked with the
same equipment as those that do?
In perhaps a more worrisome take on the on the subject of cross
contamination, Karina A. wanted me to be sure to pass along the following:
"I _thought_ I was sensitive to corn, but as it turns out, many cornmeals
and polentas on the market are actually NOT 100% gluten free. When I started
investigating and calling companies about this issue, I found virtually none
who milled corn or processed corn in a GF facility!"
This seems like reason enough for companies to stop using corn in GF products
unless (as I'm sure some of you are thinking) they have thoroughly researched
their suppliers to eliminate the possibility of cross contamination in
milling, storage, and packaging.
In all you sent 42 replies to the survey. Thanks again to all who shared
their information. Your emails described 53 people total (some people shared
about others in their family or friends). Of those, 36 are sensitive to corn
in addition to gluten, and 17 are not.
Based on some replies (like the following), this may not be representative.
If you did not reply, and would like to share your information, please do.
Also, anyone who is interested in the full text of all replies, please send
me an email. I will reply to you with a PDF file as soon as it is ready.
Richard writes:
"Among the folks I know personally with celiac, none have a corn
sensitivity. And it is not one of the top 8 allergens.
"I think it's a safe bet that if corn were a big problem among people with
celiac, people who make GF products would not use it. Otherwise, they
wouldn't be able to sell the products."
It would seem, based on the responses, that corn is an issue in the community
- at least among active members of this list. It's not a scientific sample,
granted. I wonder if we could extend the survey to include everyone on the
list? Maybe extend it so that people running support groups could poll their
members?
Finally, in closing I wanted to include the following (excerpted) reply to
the survey since it so neatly and expertly covers everyone's sentiments and
reasoning - summarizing nearly all 42 posts.
Thanks again everyone!
Todd
Lorna H. writes:
"One of my relatives is gluten intolerant & must avoid corn as well, has
multiple food intolerances. The theory is that if one suffers from leaky gut
(common in celiac: tight junction dysfunction/Zonulin overexpression),
undigested proteins (like corn protein) can enter the blood & set off an
immunolgical reaction.
"In people who have gluten intolerance of the 'allergic gastroenteritis
type,' the antibodies involved are similar to those of other allergic
reactions. Since corn & wheat are both members of the same 'cereal grass'
botanical family, the system is already primed to react to corn if there is a
wheat allergy.
"There may be other/different sorts of corn reactivity as well. It appears
that one can have both celiac & intestinal IgE allergies concurrently, though
this is not common.
"People do vary in the 'level' of corn sensitivity they experience. For
example, some people are OK with corn oil, corn syrup & cornstarch, which
contain very little if any of the offending corn proteins. Other people must
eliminate corn rigorously, to the same total/microscopic/ppm level that
they eliminate gluten.
"If one CAN tolerate the oil/syrup/starch, it does make life a lot easier,
esp. if there is already a gluten intolerance. Corn is just as ubiquitous as
wheat, barley, and rye. But we've found the support groups for corn
intolerance to be a) more poorly organized b) less helpful.
"One thing to keep in mind is that cornstarch is very frequently used as a
processing aid in both food & drug mfctr. As a processing aid, it need not
even be labelled. An acquaintance of mine who is quite severely corn
intolerant as well as celiac was reacting to cooked rice ... and ready to
give up the game ... when she discovered that fortified white rice typically
has the B vite etc. fortification added to the rice via a cornstarch medium
(not labelled).
"Cornstarch is readily available & cheap. It's also a comfort to some GF
newbies ... 'Ahhh! Here's a starch/flour I'm familiar with ... What the heck
are teff, amaranth, quinoa?' etc. But I'm guessing the companies are going
with CHEAP."
---
P.S. I was not sure whether I should share full names or email addresses, so
I didn't. If anyone knows the policy on this, please send me a quick reply.
P.S.S. I would like to (eventually) pass this information along to GF
companies - to raise the awareness (or reinforce) that corn is an issue in
the GF community. We would not divulge full names or contact information. If
anyone has objection to sharing the information from the group in this way,
please let me know your specific objection - privately. Let's not start a war
- you can trust me. Also, we would certainly not include anyone specifically
requesting that their post not be included.
__________________________________
Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year.
http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/
*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*
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