Lori Zahorsky, age 13, of Cherokee, Okla., for her question:

WHAT IS CORN OIL?

Corn oil is a vegetable oil produced by whole grain corn.

About one half of the germ, or embryo, of each corn grain is oil. To obtain the oil, processors soak the grains in a weak sulfurous acid solution. The softening grain is then cracked and mixed with water, and the oily germ floats off as a layer above the water.

Corn oil then goes through a careful process of refining.

Corn oil is used principally as a cooking and salad oil, but it is also used extensively in the manufacture of paints and linoleum.

The leading corn producing state in the United States is Iowa, followed, ~n order, by Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Visconsin, Kansas and South Dakota.