Dextrose from Wheat ["Top 9" allergen] - FALSE CLAIM by the Cleveland Clinic

 My September 12, 2025, Email to the Cleveland Clinic Ombudsman:

RE: False claim by the Cleveland Clinic, "Dextrose mostly comes from corn and wheat." https://health.clevelandclinic.org/glucose-dextrose

1. I would encourage the Cleveland Clinic to contact the FDA directly, and the FDA will confirm they have never approved a dextrin product; e.g., wheat starch, for injection into the human body -- particularly a "Top 9" allergen.

2. Since this is a serious medical claim, please provide your "SOURCE" confirming that the FDA has approved wheat starch ["Top 9" allergen] to be added to injectable IV fluids.  I would be excoriated if I claimed that dextrose is sourced from corn and peanut starches without a citation supporting my claim. [PEANUTS ARE ALSO A "TOP 9" ALLERGEN].

3.  I have reported this false claim by the Cleveland Clinic to all U.S. regulatory agencies via the following post.  If this false claim is not removed, I will also report the Cleveland Clinic's false claim to the FTC. 

CRITICAL ALERT

HYPOGLYCEMIC PATIENTS WITH A CONFIRMED

 IgE-MEDIATED ALLERGY TO WHEAT

 [UNRELATED TO CELIAC DISEASE]

 

The use of wheat starch [a dextrin vs. dextrose] has never been approved by any U.S regulatory agency to be utilized as a glucose (blood sugar)-elevating agent in IV fluids. Since wheat is classified as a "Top 9" allergen, IV fluids derived from wheat starch would require a contraindication warning for administration to wheat-allergic patients in the package insert.

 

Dextrose is the chemical name for cornstarch sugar/D-glucose, 21CFR184.1857, therefore, dextrose can PROVE FATAL to corn-allergic patients.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-184/subpart-B/section-184.1857

 
Published in a Medical Journal:
"Dextrose-containing solutions pose a significant risk to patients allergic to corn. Dextrose used for IV fluids is prepared by . . . hydrolysis of cornstarch."
https://journals.lww.com/anesthesia-analgesia/Fulltext/2019/05000/Excipients_in_Anesthesia_Medications.11.aspx

Websites claiming that dextrose can be derived from wheat are withholding a potentially life-saving drug from hypoglycemic wheat-allergic patients.

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DOCUMENTATION:

The FDA confirms that all dextrose IV fluids are ONLY produced from corn, and are contraindicated for administration to corn-allergic patients.

"DEXTROSE injection, for intravenous use"

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2016/018561s057,018562s056,018563s057,018564s059,019345s044lbl.pdf

Published in a Medical Journal:
"Dextrose-containing solutions pose a significant risk to patients allergic to corn. Dextrose used for IV fluids is prepared by . . . hydrolysis of cornstarch."
https://journals.lww.com/anesthesia-analgesia/Fulltext/2019/05000/Excipients_in_Anesthesia_Medications.11.aspx

Baxter Healthcare Corp.
LACTATED RINGERS AND DEXTROSE- sodium chloride, sodium lactate, potassium chloride, calcium chloride and dextrose monohydrate injection, solution
DESCRIPTION
"Dextrose is derived from corn."
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=6acc9f96-7088-45a7-b48f-1a861e3467ab

Millipore Sigma
"Dextrose
Biological Source: Corn"
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/substance/dextrose1801650997

Corn Products Refining Co., Life Magazine, 8 September 1941
"Dextrose: All-American Corn Sugar . . . derived from American corn, refined in American factories, distributed by American companies.”
https://candyprofessor.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/dextrose-all-american-corn-sugar/

Nutritive Sweeteners From Corn, Corn Refiners Association
[Note: Dextrose listed 9 times in this article.]
https://corn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/NSFC2006.pdf

Corn Sugar Hearings, Sixty-Ninth Congress, January 27, 1926
". . . that corn sugar is what is chemically known as dextrose . . ."
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d03669822a&view=1up&seq=3&skin=2021

Corn Refiners Association
"Intravenous Solution
Patients with low blood sugar are often given IV drips, many of which contain dextrose, a corn derivative."
https://corn.org/products/sweeteners/

"Pharmacists are requested to use caution and be aware that many drugs and medications contain undisclosed potential allergens in the form of sugars, starches, and celluloses. Share the corn allergy example with prescribers . . ."
http://library.bcpharmacists.org/6_Resources/6-7_ReadLinks/ReadLinks-MayJun2007.pdf

There is NO PROTOCOL for treating hypoglycemic corn-allergic patients [MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY].
Hospitals are not mandated to stock corn-free glucose (blood sugar)-elevating agents.
https://cornallergyadvocacyresources.blogspot.com/2024/07/there-is-no-protocol-for-treating.html
 

Corn Allergy Advocacy/Resources, Email: cornallergyinitiative@gmail.com