E-numbers / Other additives / E1442
also: HDP · Modified starch
A modified starch used to thicken, stabilise and give a smooth texture to sauces, soups, dairy desserts and processed foods.
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Coconut Extract (55%), Water, Thickening Agent: E1442, Stabiliser: Guar Gum, E466, Xanthan Gum, Emulsifier: E435, Carrageenan, Locust Bean Gum
A chemically modified starch made by treating natural starch (from maize, potato, wheat, tapioca or rice) with propylene oxide and a phosphate crosslinking agent.
A chemically modified starch made by treating natural starch (from maize, potato, wheat, tapioca or rice) with propylene oxide and a phosphate crosslinking agent. The two modifications work together: the hydroxypropyl groups make it stable across a wide temperature range, and the distarch phosphate crosslinks hold the starch granules together under heat, acid, shear and freeze-thaw cycling.
Acts as a thickener, stabiliser and texturiser. The modifications prevent the starch from breaking down or becoming watery when food is cooked, chilled, frozen or acidified. The result is a smooth, consistent texture in the finished product that holds up during processing and on the shelf.
Widely used in low-fat or fat-free products where starch replaces fat to give creaminess. Common in canned soups, pasta sauces, pot noodles, salad dressings, cream-style desserts, yoghurts, processed cheese, baby foods and ready meals. On UK ingredient labels it appears as 'modified starch' or as 'hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate', sometimes preceded by the source plant (e.g. 'modified maize starch').
EFSA's food additives panel carried out a full re-evaluation of E1442 alongside eleven other modified starches and concluded the group raises no safety concern at typical food-use levels. No numerical acceptable daily intake was set because the panel considered dietary exposure to be self-limiting and the starch itself to be nutritionally equivalent to native starch. The hydroxypropyl substituents introduced during manufacture are partly cleaved during digestion to yield propylene glycol, a compound the panel also reviewed and found to be of no concern at the amounts arising from food use of E1442.
EFSA's ANS Panel re-evaluated hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate (E1442) and concluded it raises no safety concern at authorised use levels, and set no numerical ADI.
Propylene glycol, released from the hydroxypropyl groups during digestion of E1442, was reviewed as part of the same opinion and found to be of no safety concern at the levels arising from permitted food use.
Modified starches such as E1442 are not substantially different from native starch in terms of digestibility in adults. EFSA noted that infants under 12 weeks have limited ability to digest any starch, and E1442 is therefore not permitted in foods for that age group. In older infants and young children it is permitted in processed cereal-based foods and baby foods at specified maximum levels.
E1442 is not authorised in food for infants under 12 weeks, consistent with restrictions on starch in general for that age group, but is permitted in processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for older infants under specific conditions.
No specific group needs to avoid it on safety grounds. People with coeliac disease or wheat allergy should note the starch source: if derived from wheat, it will be declared as 'modified wheat starch' or the label will carry a wheat allergen warning. Check the label for the plant source where that matters for your diet.
E1442 is one of the most thoroughly studied food starches. It has been reviewed multiple times by EFSA and national food safety bodies, and the 2017 EFSA group opinion covering all modified starches found no concern at the amounts people eat via food. The chemistry of how it is made is more complex than native starch, but what arrives in food is functionally a starch with improved processing stability, and the body handles it much as it handles ordinary cooked starch. The one area where any nuance exists is for very young infants, which is why it is age-restricted in infant formula categories. For everyone else, the science is consistent and longstanding.
No. E1442 is authorised in the UK as assimilated EU law (retained from Regulation 1333/2008). It is also approved in the EU, US and many other markets.
It starts as natural starch but is chemically treated to make it more stable during cooking, freezing, acidification and long shelf life. Your digestive system breaks it down as starch, but it behaves differently during food manufacturing.
It is widely used in soups, pasta sauces, salad dressings, yoghurts, cream-style desserts, ready meals, processed cheese, pot noodles and some baby foods. It often appears on the label simply as 'modified starch'.
Yes. It is derived entirely from plant starch (maize, potato, wheat, tapioca or rice) and involves no animal-derived processing aids.
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