Hominy: lime-cooked corn with a lot of salt in the can

In a randomized study of 40 adults in Soweto, cooking visibly moldy maize in alkali cut the fungal toxins fumonisin B1 and B2 by 95% and zearalenone by 89%, though that maize was eaten as porridge over a short exposure and nobody tested shop hominy. The cut was measured in the grain, and the study did not test whether moldy maize becomes safe to eat. That cooking step is how hominy is made. WHO calls it nixtamalization: maize kernels cooked in a dilute calcium hydroxide solution such as limewater, ash or lye, then washed and stripped of the hull. What the can mostly tells you is sodium. USDA lists canned white hominy at 267 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) and yellow at 345 mg, single records with no sample spread. A cup of cooked hominy, 170 g, comes to about 852 mg of sodium in the US survey database, where salt is part of the recipe, and only 17 mg of calcium.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• USDA lists canned white hominy at 267 mg of sodium, 1.05 mg of zinc and 2.5 g of fiber per 3.5 oz (100 g), and canned yellow hominy at 345 mg of sodium. — USDA SR Legacy records Hominy canned white and yellow (n = 2 records) Evidence E source
  Sodium 267 mg (12% DV) white, 345 mg yellow; zinc 1.05 mg (10% DV); fiber 2.5 g (9% DV) per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• One cup of cooked hominy, 170 g, carries about 852 mg of sodium and only 17 mg of calcium in the US survey food database. — FNDDS food Hominy, cooked, US dietary survey portions (n = 1 food code) Evidence E source
  Per 1 cup 170 g: sodium 851.7 mg, calcium 17.0 mg; per 3.5 oz (100 g) sodium 501 mg, calcium 10 mg

What your body absorbs

• In 10 adult women, about 35% of zinc was absorbed from corn tortillas whether unfortified or fortified with zinc oxide or sulfate, and added iron did not change it. — 10 adult women per phase, Mexico, corn tortilla test meals (n = 10 per phase) Evidence B source
  Fractional zinc absorption 0.35, 0.36, 0.37; with 0, 30, 60 mg/kg iron 0.32, 0.33, 0.32
• In children aged 5 to 7 fed corn masa tortillas fortified with reduced iron powder, only 3.8% of that iron was absorbed. — two groups of 12 children aged 5-7, Mexico (n = 24) Evidence B source
  Iron bioavailability 3.8% (2.7-5.3); with Na2EDTA 5.1% (2.8-9.2), P = 0.18

What cooking and storage change

• WHO describes nixtamalization, the step that makes hominy, as cooking maize kernels in a dilute calcium hydroxide solution such as limewater, ash or lye, then removing the hull. — maize processing worldwide (n = -) Evidence E source
  Process definition
• In a randomized study of 40 adults in Soweto, nixtamalization of visibly moldy maize cut fumonisin B1 and B2 by 95% and zearalenone by 89% in the maize. — 40 healthy adults from an informal settlement, Soweto, South Africa (n = 40) Evidence B source
  FB1 -95%, FB2 -95%, ZEN -89%; FB3 and DON undetectable; urinary FB1 no difference vs control maize (p > 0.05)

What it does to your health

• A review of 1212 pellagra cases since 2000 found dietary deficiency behind 85% of them, mostly in food-insecure groups, with symptoms resolving in about 27 days of vitamin B3. — 133 studies, 1212 pellagra cases, 2000-2023 (n = 1212 cases) Evidence C source
  Dietary cause 85%; 93% of cases in food insecurity or crises; isoniazid 14.3%; alcohol 9.6%

Safety, limits and interactions

• According to FDA guidance, cleaned corn intended for masa production should hold no more than 4 ppm of total fumonisins, against 2 ppm for degermed dry-milled corn products. — US corn products for human food (n = -) Evidence E source
  Recommended maximum 4 ppm masa corn, 2 ppm degermed dry milled, 3 ppm popcorn
• In a South African maize-farming community, hand-sorting and washing kernels cut fumonisin in porridge by 65% and daily fumonisin exposure by 62%. — 22 women from a subsistence maize-farming community, Centane, South Africa (n = 22) Evidence C source
  Maize -84%, porridge -65%, exposure 6.73 to 2.55 microg/kg bw/day (-62%)
• A systematic review of 17 studies found only two on fumonisin in pregnancy, which linked maternal exposure with hypertensive emergencies and neural tube defects. — 17 epidemiological studies of pregnant women or fetuses (n = 17 studies) Evidence C source
  Fumonisin: possible association with neural tube defects and hypertensive emergencies; 2 studies only

What people believe that the data does not support

• In 5 women eating about 4.9 oz (140 g) of tortillas, calcium absorption was 35% from normal maize and 50% from low-phytate maize, so lime adds calcium but phytate limits its uptake. — 5 healthy adult women, about 140 g tortillas per test meal (n = 5) Evidence C source
  Fractional calcium absorption 0.35 +/- 0.07 (normal maize) vs 0.50 +/- 0.03 (low-phytate), P = 0.003
• According to NIH, pellagra was common in the early 1900s among poor people in the southern US and Europe whose diets were mainly corn. — historical populations with corn-based diets (n = -) Evidence E source
  Association, no number

The bottom line

The idea that lime-cooked corn is a calcium food comes from tortillas. Researchers who measured calcium absorption from tortillas in 5 women note that nixtamalization adds calcium, while phytate in maize limits its uptake and the process reduces phytate only modestly. Cooked hominy in the US survey database holds 10 mg of calcium per 3.5 oz (100 g), and we found no study comparing it with tortillas. Zinc absorption from corn tortillas was about 35% in 10 adult women in Mexico. Reduced iron powder added to masa tortillas was absorbed at 3.8% in Mexican children aged 5 to 7. Both used tortillas, so neither number is a hominy number. Pellagra, the niacin deficiency disease, was common in the early 1900s among poor people in the southern US and Europe whose diets were mainly corn, according to NIH. A review of 1212 cases reported since 2000 found diet behind 85% of them, mostly in food-insecure groups. The NIH sheet does not mention nixtamalization, and we found no human study of niacin from hominy. Who should be careful. Anyone limiting sodium should count the can. Fumonisin is the other concern. FDA advises no more than 4 ppm of total fumonisins in cleaned corn for masa, against 2 ppm for degermed dry-milled corn, in guidance that is not binding and does not name hominy. For pregnancy, a review of 17 studies found only two on fumonisin, which linked maternal exposure with hypertensive emergencies and neural tube defects, an association drawn from maize in general. In 22 South African women, hand-sorting and washing home-grown maize cut fumonisin in porridge by 65%, in a study with no control group.

Sources

1. homn-r4-01 · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, dataset
   Hominy, canned, white (FDC 169701, SR Legacy, Cereal Grains and Pasta): sodium 267 mg per 100 g = 12% DV; zinc 1.05 mg = 10% DV; fiber 2.5 g = 9% DV; Hominy, canned, yellow sodium 345 mg; Foundation samples 0, CoFID match none
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 169701 · checked 2026-10-01
2. homn-r4-02 · USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, dataset
   Hominy, cooked (FNDDS 75217520, FDC 2709933, Grits and other cooked cereals): sodium 501 mg, calcium 10 mg per 100 g; 1 cup = 170 g: sodium 851.7 mg, calcium 17.0 mg
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 75217520, FDC 2709933 · checked 2026-10-01
3. homn-r4-09 · RCT
   The mean (+/- SEM) fractional zinc absorption from unfortified tortilla, tortilla fortified with zinc oxide, and tortilla fortified with zinc sulfate did not differ among treatments: 0.35 +/- 0.07, 0.36 +/- 0.05, and 0.37 +/- 0.07, respectively.
   Food Nutr Bull, 2012 · checked 2026-10-01
4. homn-r4-10 · RCT
   When normalized to 40% absorption of the reference dose, the geometric mean (+/-range 1 SD) bioavailability of reduced iron in tortilla was 3.8% (2.7-5.3).
   J Nutr, 2004 · checked 2026-10-01
5. homn-r4-03 · WHO guideline
   One of these pre-processing steps is called nixtamalization, which is characterized by cooking maize kernels in a dilute alkali solution of calcium hydroxide that is made by dissolution of calcium oxide in water (traditionally, limewater, ash or lye). After washing, the grain/kernel is dehulled by removing the pericarp, leaving the endosperm and germ (11, 12).
   WHO Guideline: Fortification of maize flour and corn meal with vitamins and minerals, 2016 · checked 2026-10-01
6. homn-r4-04 · RCT
   Nixtamalization achieved a reduction in fumonisin B3 and deoxynivalenol (DON) to unquantifiable or undetectable levels in maize, while reducing fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2, and zearalenone (ZEN) by 95%, 95%, and 89%, respectively.
   Toxins (Basel), 2025 · checked 2026-10-01
7. homn-r4-11 · systematic review of case reports
   Dietary deficiency remained the predominant cause of pellagra (85%), and it was particularly common in populations affected by food insecurity or humanitarian crises, accounting for 93% of cases.
   Int J Dermatol, 2026 · checked 2026-10-01
8. homn-r4-05 · FDA guidance for industry
   Cleaned corn intended for masa production | 4 ppm
   US FDA, Guidance for Industry: Fumonisin Levels in Human Foods and Animal Feeds, November 2001 · checked 2026-10-01
9. homn-r4-06 · non-randomized intervention
   The customised hand-sorting and washing procedures reduced fumonisin contamination in the maize and porridge by 84 and 65%, respectively. The intervention reduced fumonisin exposure by 62% to 2.55 (1.94-3.35) µg kg(-1) body weight day(-1).
   Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess, 2010 · checked 2026-10-01
10. homn-r4-07 · systematic review of observational studies
    Only two studies assessed effects of maternal exposure to Fusarium mycotoxins (e.g., fumonisin) on adverse pregnancy outcomes. These studies found that maternal fumonisin exposure may be associated with hypertensive emergencies in pregnancy and with neural tube defects.
    Mycotoxin Res, 2020 · checked 2026-10-01
11. homn-r4-08 · clinical trial, non-randomized
    Calcium fortification of maize has been achieved for millennia in Central America by the process of nixtamalization. Bioavailability of calcium is, however, compromised by phytate, which is present in large quantities in maize kernels and is only modestly reduced by nixtamalization.
    Am J Clin Nutr, 2005 · checked 2026-10-01
12. homn-r4-12 · fact sheet
    Pellagra was not uncommon in the early 20th century among individuals living in poverty in the southern United States and parts of Europe whose limited diets consisted mainly of corn [2,3].
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Niacin Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-01