The translation into English "corn" doesn't refer to maize. It's unidiomatic in modern English but Gutenberg only has copyright-free translations, and this one is from the 19th century.
Sweetcorn is a specific maize meant for human consumption, distinct from popcorn or feed corn (which is also used for ethanol production, becoming "distillers grains" that are also fed to livestock).
Unless Pliny got a little sneak preview of Miller Lite back then.