Modified food starch is a chemically altered food ingredient made from starch. Because many starches may contain gluten or have been contaminated with gluten, be on the lookout for this ingredient in many of the foods sold today if you are eliminating gluten from your diet.

While the term modified food starch may accurately describe this ingredient, the use of the word "food" in its description interjects some ambiguity into the mix. What foods are modified? Possible sources include the following:

• Corn
• Potato
• Tapioca
• Rice
• Wheat

How It's Made

There are numerous ways that food starch can be modified; the method varies based on the starch itself and on what it will be used for. These are some methods of producing a modified starch:

• Treating it with acid
• Roasting it
• Treating it with sodium hydroxide
• Treating it with potassium hydroxide
• Adding a positive electrical charge
• Treating it with emulsifiers
• Treating it with starch ether

Sometimes a starch may undergo more than one treatment, depending on the desired outcome.

What It's Used For

Food starches are modified to make them easier to use in certain recipes. Modified starch has many uses in food products:

• Making a product easier to dissolve in cold water or milk for instant gelatinized recipes
• Helping powdered foods, like powdered cheese sauce and gravy, have a less lumpy consistency when mixed
• Serving as a fat substitute for low-fat foods
• Acting as an emulsifier for salad dressings in order to keep oils from separating
• Forming a hard shell on some candies like jelly beans
• Producing foods with longer shelf lives
• Acting as a thickener for soups

Foods That May Contain Modified Food Starch

Because starches are modified for so many different reasons, you may find them in a variety of places:

• Chips
• Canned soups
• Instant pudding
• Low-fat ice cream
• Cheese sauces
• Powder coated foods such as cocoa-dusted almonds
• Candy
• Capsules that contain some medications

Foods Containing Modified Food Starch

There are numerous foods that may contain modified food starch. Look for it on the labels of the following foods:

• Instant puddings
• Instant desserts
• Canned soup
• Liquid cheese
• Gravy
• Low-fat foods
• Salad dressing
• Jellied candies
• Baby food
• Infant formula

Journal of Food and Clinical Nutrition is a peer reviewed open access journal. Interested can submit their manuscript through online portal. Submit manuscript at https://www.pulsus.com/submissions/food-clinical-nutrition.html or through mail at clinicalnutrition@emedicalsci.org. For membership contact:

Media contact:

Maegan Smith  

Managing Editor

Journal of Food and Clinical Nutrition 

Mail ID: clinicalnutrition@emedicalsci.org

Whatsapp no: + 1-504-608-2390