People eat food cooked or raw. When it comes to cooking, you can get rid of bacteria that might lurk in the raw food and add spices or other ingredients.
There are also benefits to eating raw foods. It just depends on the person and what they prefer to eat.
One food people love to cook and add to their food or eat separately is corn. Corn can be eaten raw, but you may wonder if it is safe to consume raw.
In this article, we will figure out if it is safe to eat raw corn and what the risks come with that.
Contents
Is It Possible To Eat Raw Corn?
You can eat raw corn. What you need to understand is that there is a certain type of corn you need to eat. Sweet corn is a type of corn you can eat raw.
The taste is on the sweet and milky side. Just make sure that it’s young corn that has just recently been planted. You can easily tell this by seeing if it’s soft and has a nice smell.
The corn that you shouldn’t eat raw is called dent, yellow, or field corn. The reason this shouldn’t be consumed raw is that it has a lot of starch in it.
Not only will it taste bad, but it will be difficult for your stomach to digest it. Fear not if you’d like to consume some dent corn. If you cook it, it’s completely edible.
So, for the most part, corn seems pretty safe to eat. However, there are some risks you should know.
What Are the Risks of Eating Raw Corn?
No matter what you are eating, you’ll always find that there will be some risks involved. It’s just what happens!
There are some risks when eating raw corn, and these include:
- You need to make sure that the corn you are eating is corn that has just been harvested. The longer it’s been since the corn has been harvested, the more flavor the corn loses. Everyone loves how sweet corn tastes. Do you want to lose that?
- This might seem pretty obvious, but you should always wash the raw corn before eating it. Not washing it can cause you to get bacteria like salmonella. Symptoms of this include vomiting and diarrhea. Washing it will help lessen your chances of getting bacteria.
- Finally, you need to know that even if you are eating sweet raw corn, it’s not easily digested by your body. You shouldn’t eat it very often because if you do, it can cause some gastrointestinal issues such as gas, bloating, and cramps.
These are the biggest risks that you’ll find when consuming raw corn.
Just keep them in mine before you decide to eat some raw corn.
What Are the Benefits of Eating Corn?
Despite the few risks, there are also a lot of benefits that you’ll get from eating corn. These include:
- Corn is high in antioxidants. What these do is help combat the effects of free radicals in your body. Wondering what free radicals are? Well, they can play a role in getting old and possibly getting chronic diseases.
- One thing corn has a lot of is fiber. You’ll probably know that fiber is something that can be very useful in helping you beat constipation. While corn might not have much fiber as some other foods do, it still does have a decent amount and will help you with any gastrointestinal issues you have.
- It’s gluten-free! Great for people who can’t eat gluten. This includes not only those with gluten intolerance but also people who have celiac disease. If you have celiac, then you are unable to process gluten.
- Corn is very high in protein compared to some of the other vegetables out there. If you don’t want to eat meat, corn is a great option for you.
How Can You Eat Raw Corn
Now you may wonder how you can consume raw corn. You may think the only way to eat it is to just start snacking on the cob, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Corn can be eaten in the following ways:
- You can have corn on the cob. This is the most classic way to consume corn, but it’s so easy. After preparing it, all you need to do is boil it, and then it’s ready to eat.
- Feel like having some soup? Well, raw corn can be made into soup. Throw in some spices, and you’ll have a great lunch on your hands.
- Believe it or not, raw corn can be added to your vegan ice cream. Either you sprinkle it on top or mix it in. The reason for this is that corn has a sweet taste (provided it’s sweet corn), so adding it to ice cream will only increase the sweetness.
- These are just three popular options for you to eat raw corn. There are plenty of other recipes out there. Of course, if you are the type of person who just wants to pick it right off the cob without boiling it, adding butter, or anything else, then that works too!
Eat the corn in whatever way you like. Just wash it first because you don’t want to end up getting sick.
Final Thoughts
And there we go, all you food and corn lovers out there. We’ve reached the end of the article, and you now know it is safe to eat corn raw.
It might not be something everyone does, but some people love eating raw corn and stand by it.
Some risks and benefits come along with eating raw corn, but as long as you practice safety, you can have it in one of the methods we listed or something else.
Again, it just depends on what you prefer, and if you’d rather eat the corn out of a can, then that’s okay as well!
You might also be interested in the following:
- Can You Eat Raw Tofu?
- Can You Eat Raw Onion?
- Can You Eat Raw Mushrooms?
- Can You Eat Raw Sweet Potato?
- Can You Eat Raw Potatoes?
- Can You Eat Raw Zucchini?
I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.