Corn kernels are the fruits of maize. Maize is a grain, and the kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable or a source of starch. Corn is a popular food throughout the world in many forms. It is used in breakfast cereals in the Western world (as cornflakes) and it is a grain that can be eaten raw off the cob, although it is usually preferred cooked. It may be fed to animals or humans.

In the United States, for economic reasons such as government subsidies, corn is the basis of many products, in the form of high fructose corn syrup, in favor of cane sugar. A genetic variant that accumulates more sugar and less starch in the ear is consumed as a vegetable and is called sweet corn.