Modified starch is starch from corn, tapioca, potato, wheat or another plant that has been changed physically, enzymatically or chemically so that it performs better in a food. Ordinary starch can break down under heat, acid or freezing and may turn gummy or watery; modified versions are designed to thicken reliably, bind doughs, form films or stay stable. Chemically modified starches have their own INS numbers in the 1400s, for example oxidized starch (INS 1404) and acetylated distarch adipate (INS 1422).
In stacked crisps, modified starch helps bind a dough made from dried potato. Lay’s Stax Original lists potato (52%), wheat starch and 4% modified starch, plus a starch-based stabilizer (INS 1420), before the dough is shaped and fried.
“Modified” refers to the starch’s structure, not to genetic modification. Labels often name the source plant, which matters when the starch comes from wheat.
