Industrial Starches

Eliminating industrial starches is considered essential to any meaningful population-level health improvement. The new dietary guidelines reference refined carbohydrates but do not explicitly use the term industrial starches, leaving the category unnamed. Industrial starches function as hidden sugars embedded throughout the processed food supply. Maltodextrin raises blood glucose more than table sugar yet is legally classified as a carbohydrate and qualifies as sugar-free. Without labeling reform reflecting true glycemic impact, consumers have no reliable means of identifying or avoiding industrial starches.