What exactly is “zombie corn”? What problems could arise from eating so-called “zombie corn”?

Recently, a video of a blogger exposing a middleman selling "zombie corn" suddenly went viral online. He said that the corn people bought was all made with technology and hard work, not only was it made with sweet water, but there was also "zombie corn" that had been frozen for many years. Although the blogger did not have any evidence, the terrifying rhetoric of "zombie corn" still spread quickly and sparked public discussion.

What exactly is this "zombie corn"?

Eating so-called "zombie corn"

What could be the problem?

Let’s take a look ↓

What exactly is “zombie corn”?

The "zombie corn" mentioned by the blogger refers to vacuum-packed corn and frozen corn, which have a very long shelf life and are now sold in major supermarkets. Compared with fresh corn, this type of processed corn can not only satisfy our desire to eat corn anytime 365 days a year, but also save us a lot of tedious steps before cooking, and even be eaten right out of the bag.

Image source: Science Popularization China

However, many consumers do have concerns about processed corn: How can this corn be stored for so long without going bad? Could it be that something has been added? Will it be stale when eaten? Will it taste worse than fresh corn?

Is processed corn safe to eat?

Let me first state the conclusion: there is no need to worry at all! The extra-long shelf life of processed corn is a scientific method that has been discovered through continuous exploration.

Vacuum corn

The shelf life of vacuum corn is basically 12-24 months. This is mainly because the harvested corn will immediately undergo the following two steps:

Quickly lock in freshness: First remove the silk and dirt from the corn, then blanch it at high temperature (85℃-95℃) for 10-12 minutes to inactivate its inherent enzyme activity, thereby achieving the effect of fixing color and preventing nutrient loss.

Vacuum sterilization: After the corn is bagged, it is sterilized in a high-temperature (121°C) water bath for 30 minutes. At this time, the survival rate of microorganisms is almost 0.

Frozen corn

The preservation logic of frozen corn is different from the sterilization process of vacuum corn. The core of frozen corn preservation lies in the rapid low-temperature freshness-locking technology. It is also pre-treated and pre-cooked, and then it is rapidly cooled by a -30℃ quick freezer, so that the core temperature of the corn drops to -18℃ within 10 hours, just like pressing the "time pause button" for the corn. The only disadvantage of frozen corn is that it loses water, which affects the taste.

Image source: Science Popularization China

Does processing corn cause significant nutritional loss?
The nutritional loss of processed corn is much lower than people imagine. Vacuum-packed corn is even more "nutritious" than fresh corn stored at room temperature for 3 days:

To sum up: "Zombie Corn" does not exist!

It seems that the so-called "zombie corn" is just a pseudo-concept concocted by marketing accounts, and there is no need to panic. Whether it is vacuum-packed corn or frozen corn, they have a super long shelf life after standardized processing technology and have nothing to do with "zombieization" (produced by regular manufacturers).