Food Allergy Resources

Basic Recipe Substitutions for Corn Allergy

January 2008

Overview: Basic Ingredient Substitutions for Food Allergies
Many common allergens are also common ingredients in your favorite recipes. There are some ingredients for which you can easily and successfully use non-allergenic substitutes, and there are others for which satisfactory substitutes do not exist.

Whether or not a "safe" version of a recipe can be successfully made often depends on two important factors. First: what is the role of the allergen in the recipe? Second: how many of the recipe's ingredients require substitutions? If the recipe only has 5 ingredients and you need to swap out 4 of them, the end result might bear little resemblance to the original dish. The bottom line: sometimes you can create a "safe" version of a recipe, and sometimes you are better off finding a different recipe altogether.

The following is a general guide to using ingredient substitutions for corn allergy. Please verify the ingredients and safety of any products named to ensure that it is safe for your child’s unique allergy issues.

If you need additional assistance in finding product suggestions or where to find ingredients for substituting, post a message in the KFA Food and Cooking forum to obtain suggestions from other parents of food allergic children who are also managing the same food allergies.

Substitutions for Corn Ingredients

Substituting for corn ingredients is generally fairly simple.

Item	Substitute
Corn oil	Corn-free oil, such as soy oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, etc.
Baking powder	Corn-free baking powder or 1 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar for each teaspoon of baking powder
Corn starch	See Substitutes for Thickeners
Corn syrup	1 cup granulated sugar + 1/4 cup water for 1 cup corn syrup
Powdered sugar	Grind 1 cup granulated sugar + 1 Tbsp potato starch in a coffee grinder, blender, or food processor. Note: This does not turn out as fine as the "real thing," and grinding sugar in this way can burn out the motor of your appliance if it is run too long for this purpose.
Vanilla extract	Corn-free vanilla extract (can be difficult to find) or make your own: Drop 2 vanilla beans into a small bottle of potato vodka; let sit for 1-2 months and then remove the beans.