I'm still somewhat unclear
> about this issue and whether it is *kind* or *amount* that determines
> whether a food is called simply a carb or a starch.

Ok, hope this helps. Carbohydrates are sugars. There are three major
catagories. First monosaccharides or single sugars. These are sugars made up
of a single molecules. They are glucose, fructose and galactose. Second type
is disaccharides or double sugars these are sugars that are made up of two
chemically linked molecules of monosaccharides. They are lactose (glucose
and galactose), sucrose (table sugar made up of glucose and fructose) and
maltose and isomaltose (I forget for sure but I think it's double glucose).
The third type carbohydrate is starch or polysaccharides (meaning many
saccharides). There are two types amylose and amylopectin.These are
chemically linked chains of glucose. Amylose being a straight chain and
amylopectin being branched.
So there you have it: sugars 101 (I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong)