<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I really got into this by some side door marked MSG and HVP, but the
messages keep arriving about food starch, so I'll send them on:

*****

>'I was under the understanding that in the US if it is listed as just
>"starch" it was corn.  if it has food starch or modified food starch, ect. it
>can be anything else.
>
>Ruth Harris  NC/usa
*******

>It is my understanding that for product made in the US, the term "starch" must
>be derived from corn.  "Food starch" may be an entirely different matter as is
>"modified food starch".
[log in to unmask]
*******

>Gayle - My first thought was I wonder if the food starch might be listed as
>"modified" food starch?  I thought the FDA was very clear about "food
>starch" originating from only corn in the US.
>Diane Holmes
*****

>Tapioca I'm sure you already know is OK for Celiac's.  Thought maybe if you
>were not aware of that it may help.
>
>Edith
*****

>Last week I forwarded a message saying that in the United States all food
>starch, unless otherwise listed, was from corn, and therefore did not
>contain gluten.
>
>Why should a product containing Tapioca contain wheat starch????? Tapioca
>is completely glutenfree!  It is produced from cassave (Manihot utilissima)
>which is a tuber. You shouldn't deem any other starch than cornstarch by
>definition to be wheatstarch, there are many other types of starches.
>Usually producers use these types of starch because they have other
>functional properties (viscosity and gelation).
>FWJ, Zutphen, The Netherlands.

*********

It seems to me that some members of the LIST  are not reading carefully, or
are jumping to conclusions.  No one said that any product contained both
corn and tapioca.  Perhaps the problem is in translation.  It does seem
that if the "Lobster Classic" product contains tapioca, which is listed as
a food starch, then the people who produce it are not paying attention to
some USDA rule about the term "food starch" being only used in the USA to
refer to corn starch, OR there is no such USDA rule.  Perhaps the term
"starch" alone is what only refers to corn.

Having said that, I am bowing out of this discussion.  I will say that
tapioca tends to be quite fattening, for those who are concerned about
weight.

 If any of you have more to say about food starches, please address someone
else, as I am packing furiously to leave tonight (ahead of ice and snow, a
day earlier than planned) hoping to get to Richmond, Indiana from Upstate
New York,  and won't be on line again until mid-January.

Happy Holidays to you all!  In spite of contraversies and misunderstandings
and confusions, I =E7ouldn't live without this LIST.  It makes me realize
that in spite of my limited diet, I AM part of the human race!  Love to
everybody.

Gayle Kennedy