# If you are allergic to corn, does corn syrup in soda count? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742 "2005-05-27T11:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/1 "2005-05-27T11:57:57Z")
Subject says it all. Just curious, not me, it’s a neighbor/friend/cousin, yes, I know to go to a doctor, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/2 "2005-05-27T12:36:01Z")
Offhand, I’d say no. Corn syrup is glucose and water, just a simple sugar solution, really. Nothing about it is particularly “corny”, we just make it from corn because corn is plentiful, easy to grow, and has a lot more sugar than most other grains. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/3 "2005-05-27T14:53:53Z")
Yes, you most certainly do. [http://allergies.about.com/cs/corn/a/aa053199.htm](http://allergies.about.com/cs/corn/a/aa053199.htm) > [@](#): > > Those who are allergic to corn need to avoid eating products that contain whole corn, corn flour, cornstarch, corn alcohol, corn gluten, corn sweetener, corn sugar, corn syrup, corn meal, corn oil, or popcorn. > > With this in mind, also watch out for the terms dextrose (also known as glucose or corn sugar), dextrin, dextrates, maltodextrin, caramel, or malt syrup on ingredient labels because they may also be sources of corn. The problem comes from the fact that incredibly tiny amounts of protein can trigger an allergic reaction and there is normally no need (or ability) to refine corn products to such purity in the manufacturing process. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/4 "2005-05-27T16:58:39Z")
Corn allergies are a huge pain in the ass. I feel for ya. You have to avoid to many things you’d never even consider. For example, a lot of commercial pizza places use cornmeal to dust the crust with. Many chewing gums are dusted with cornstarch. And corn syrup is used in everything from drinks to microwave dinners. I’d say try to shop for natural/organic foods, where they’d be more likely to sweeten things with cane sugar over corn syrup. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/5 "2005-05-27T17:03:27Z")
I stand corrected. I did not realize how much corn stuff is left in corn by-products. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/6 "2005-05-27T18:14:42Z")
Our chief engineer has a corn allergy. To add to your list, he has to avoic milk products in plastic containers. Those containers are lined with cornstarch. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-are-allergic-to-corn-does-corn-syrup-in-soda-count/305742/7 "2005-05-27T18:55:41Z")
Kid Kalhoun had a corn allergy years ago. Everything with corn in it was on the list of stuff to avoid. It was EXTREMELY difficult to find foods that didn’t have corn _something_ in it. Anyhoo…he no longer has a problem with it. And he refused to give up his favorite corn products anyway. It wasn’t a huge problem anyway.