E1405 — Enzyme-treated starch
Why it’s used
Starch modified using amylase or related enzymes, rather than chemical reagents, to selectively break down some of its glucose chains — lowering viscosity and altering texture without leaving synthetic-reagent residues. It's used as a thickener, texturizer, and processing aid in baked goods, breadings, and 'clean-label' processed foods where manufacturers want to avoid chemically modified starch.
Other names
Enzyme-modified starch, Amylase-treated starch
Diet flags
Regulatory status
Permitted under 21 CFR 172.892(i) as 'food starch-modified,' which authorizes enzymatic treatment with alpha-amylase, beta-amylase, glucoamylase, isoamylase, or pullulanase, subject to those enzymes' own GRAS or food-additive status. Source (2026-07-24)
Starch treated by amylolytic enzymes is explicitly excluded from the EU's definition of 'food additive' under Article 3(2)(a)(vi) of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, so it is not authorized or regulated as a food additive (no E-number use) in the EU. Source (2026-07-24)
Regulatory status by region
The US regulates enzyme-treated starch as a food additive category under 21 CFR 172.892(i), while the EU excludes amylolytic-enzyme-treated starch from food-additive law entirely via Article 3(2)(a)(vi) — it remains usable as an ordinary food ingredient in the EU, just outside E-number regulation.
Like other specifically modified starches, enzyme-treated starch is excluded from the EU's 'food additive' definition itself by Article 3(2)(a)(vi) of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 — amylolytic-enzyme treatment is named explicitly as one of the modification routes that falls outside additive law, so EFSA has no occasion to issue a safety opinion or set an E-number status for it. This is a definitional exclusion rather than a refusal: the starch remains freely usable as an ordinary ingredient in EU food, it simply sits outside the regulatory apparatus governing E1401-E1451 style modified-starch additives. The distinction matters because it means enzyme-treated starch was never assessed and rejected by EFSA — it was never in scope for assessment at all.
Found in these products
None of the products in our database currently contain E1405.