The point is narrow: the ingredients-list name follows the principal function in that food. For E 1442, where that function is bulking, the designation is “bulking agent: hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate” or “bulking agent: (E 1442)”. The colon and the parentheses are a usual way of showing the sequence in Part C, not a separate punctuation rule. The provision says: the name of that category, followed by the specific name or, if appropriate, E number.
1. Two routes. Do not collapse them
Article 18(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 points the technical rules for designating ingredients to Annex VII. Starch sits on two different tracks there.
The ingredient route — Part B. Point 4 of Part B: “Starches, and starches modified by physical means or by enzymes” are designated “Starch”. The German version of the same point: “Natürliche Stärke und auf physikalischem oder enzymatischem Wege modifizierte Stärke” — “Stärke”. The Polish category name is “skrobia”. Part B allows the category name instead of a specific name. It does not confer an E number. It is not an additive list.
The additive route — Part C. It covers food additives and food enzymes other than those specified in point (b) of Article 20 belonging to one of the categories listed in that Part. They must be designated by the name of that category, followed by their specific name or, if appropriate, E number. If an ingredient belongs to more than one of the categories, the category appropriate to the principal function in the case of the food in question shall be indicated.
The boundary is drawn by Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, not by the trade name “modified starch”. Article 3(2) excludes from the notion of food additive, among others, white or yellow dextrin, roasted or dextrinated starch, starch modified by acid or alkali treatment, bleached starch, physically modified starch and starch treated by amylolitic enzymes. Annex I, point 19, defines “modified starches” as substances obtained by one or more chemical treatments of edible starches, which may have undergone a physical or enzymatic treatment and may be acid or alkali thinned or bleached. Acid or alkali thinning or bleaching alone does not move a starch onto the E list. Oxidation, esterification, etherification, cross-linking — does.
2. What the Union list says about E 1442 — and what it does not
In Annex II Part B to Regulation 1333/2008, in the list of additives other than colours and sweeteners, E 1442 is named Hydroxy propyl distarch phosphate. Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012, specifications, heads that entry E 1442 HYDROXYPROPYL DISTARCH PHOSPHATE. Beside it in Part B stand the other chemically modified starches from E 1404 to E 1452. That is a family of additives, not a synonym for every “modified starch” in the plant.
E 1442 is also in Group I of Part C of Annex II, at quantum satis. Group I is not a menu of labelling functions. It is a group of additives authorised — where Part E permits Group I — at quantum satis, subject to the footnotes of the group and the food category. E 1452 (starch aluminium octenyl succinate) is in Part B but not in Group I. Conditions of use must not be averaged across E 1404–E 1452.
Annex I to Regulation 1333/2008 defines functional classes, and the text introducing that Annex states that food additives may be assigned in Annexes II and III to one of those classes on the basis of the principal technological function. The classes include bulking agents (point 10: substances which contribute to the volume of a foodstuff without contributing significantly to its available energy value), thickeners, stabilisers, emulsifiers, gelling agents and — separately — modified starches (point 19). The Union list does not publish, for E 1442, a closed set of authorised label words such as “bulking agent, thickener, stabiliser”. The category word on the finished food comes from Annex VII Part C to Regulation 1169/2011, from the function the additive actually performs in that food.
3. The principal function chooses the category. One of them
Part C, second sentence, is unambiguous: if an ingredient belongs to more than one of the categories, the category appropriate to the principal function in the case of the food in question shall be indicated. Not every category that fits a supplier’s technical sheet.
Where in a capsule, powder or other food E 1442 principally performs the function of a bulking agent — in the sense of Annex I point 10 to Regulation 1333/2008 — the Part C category is:
| Annex VII language | Category | Example where the function is bulking |
|---|---|---|
| EN | Bulking agent | bulking agent: hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate bulking agent: (E 1442) |
| PL | substancja wypełniająca | substancja wypełniająca: hydroksypropylofosforan diskrobiowy substancja wypełniająca: (E 1442) |
| DE | Füllstoff | Füllstoff: Hydroxypropyldistärkephosphat Füllstoff: (E 1442) |
“Füllstoff” is the wording of the German version of Part C, not a gloss. Article 15 of Regulation 1169/2011: mandatory particulars shall appear in a language easily understood by the consumers of the Member State where the food is marketed. Category names come from the language version of Annex VII for that market, not from an English specification.
If the principal function in that food is thickening, the category is “thickener” / substancja zagęszczająca / Verdickungsmittel. Stabilising: “stabiliser” / stabilizator / Stabilisator. Emulsifying: “emulsifier” / emulgator / Emulgator. Gel formation: “gelling agent” / substancja żelująca / Geliermittel. Always one category plus the specific name or the E number. The choice follows the recipe, not how many roles a chemical starch can play in the literature.
4. “Modified starch” is its own Part C category, not a synonym for E 1442
Part C includes the category “Modified starch”, in Polish “skrobia modyfikowana”, in German “Modifizierte Stärke”. The footnote to that entry — footnote (2) in the English text — states: the specific name or E number shall not be required to be indicated. The German version: “Die Angabe der spezifischen Bezeichnung oder der E-Nummer ist nicht erforderlich.”
That footnote operates only when the category indicated on the label is “modified starch” itself. It does not dispense with the specific name or E number when the principal function is another Part C category, including bulking agent. “Shall not be required” does not mean “shall not be indicated”: with the category “modified starch” one may add the name or E number, but one need not.
Hence the precision missing from many supplement labels. E 1442 is a chemically modified starch additive. Not every starch called “modified” in the plant is an additive — Part B and Article 3(2) of Regulation 1333/2008 leave native starch, starch changed by physical means or enzymes, and starch only acid or alkali thinned or bleached, outside the additive definition. And the other way around: where E 1442’s principal function is bulking, the category “modified starch” does not replace “bulking agent”.
5. Examples. What Part C actually says about several additives
Correct, where the principal function is bulking:
- “bulking agent: hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate”
- “bulking agent: (E 1442)” — equivalently laid out as “bulking agent (E 1442)”
Incorrect:
- bare “E 1442” or the specific name alone — no Part C category;
- “starch” — that is the Part B designation for an ingredient that is not an additive;
- “bulking agent, thickener, stabiliser: E 1442” — every function at once, contrary to the principal-function sentence;
- “modified starch” as a substitute for the bulking function — the footnote allowing the name and E number to be omitted does not travel to another category.
Part C contains no separate sentence authorising several additives to be collapsed into one entry without the name or E number of each. The formula is per ingredient: category of the principal function, followed by the specific name or E number. The exception is the footnote to “modified starch”.
Part A point 7 of Annex VII allows similar ingredients below 2 % to be referred to by “contains … and/or …”. The same sentence excludes food additives and ingredients listed in Part C from that permission. E 1442 therefore does not enter an “and/or” construction with another starch additive. Repeating the category before each additive, or one category followed by successive specific names or E numbers, is a layout of that formula. It is not a licence to omit the name or the number.
6. Gluten and origin. Do not write into Part B a sentence that is not there
Directive 2000/13/EC had a separate sentence: the designation “starch” / “modified starch” must be complemented by the specific vegetable origin when that ingredient may contain gluten. Annex VII Part B to Regulation 1169/2011 does not repeat that sentence. Point 4 of Part B, as written, gives the category “starch” / “skrobia” / “Stärke” — without a botanical-origin duty written into Part B itself.
The allergen duty sits beside it, and Part C opens with “without prejudice to Article 21”. Article 9(1)(c) and Article 21: an ingredient listed in Annex II, or a derivative of such an ingredient still present in the food, shall be indicated with a clear reference to the name in Annex II and emphasised through a typeset that distinguishes it. Annex II includes cereals containing gluten, including wheat. Wheat starch — including chemically modified starch, where the Annex II cereal remains relevant to the allergy information — requires the name of that cereal and the emphasis. Typically “wheat starch” or “starch (wheat)”, with the word indicating wheat emphasised; for the additive: category plus name or E, and still the emphasised cereal where Article 21 requires it. It does not follow that every maize or potato starch must declare origin in the list merely because Directive 2000/13 once required it.
7. Checklist for a supplement or food manufacturer
- Function in this recipe. Is the substance in the finished product and does it perform a function there? If not — Article 20(b), not the list.
- Part B or Part C. Native, physical, enzymatic, or only acid/alkali thinned or bleached within Article 3(2) of Regulation 1333/2008: Part B, “starch”, no E. Chemical modification used as an additive (the E 1404–E 1452 series, including E 1442): Part C.
- One category. Bulking then bulking agent. Not the role catalogue from the specification sheet.
- Name or E number. Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate or E 1442. With the category “modified starch” the footnote dispenses with that second element — only then.
- Language of the market (Article 15). EN: bulking agent. PL: substancja wypełniająca. DE: Füllstoff.
- Allergen. Article 21 and Annex II, where the source is a cereal on that list. Do not add an origin duty to every starch from Part B alone.
- Separately: whether use is allowed. Food category in Part D and conditions in Part E of Annex II to Regulation 1333/2008, including category 17 (food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC). Quantum satis for Group I does not replace checking whether Part E permits Group I in that food at all.
8. What this designation does not decide
Annex VII Part C does not authorise the additive. Authorisation, the level (for E 1442 in Group I: quantum satis) and the food category are Annex II to Regulation 1333/2008, Part E, plus the specification in Regulation 231/2012. A correct word in the ingredients list does not cure use in a category where the additive is not listed, or use as a processing aid that nevertheless performs a function in the finished product.
Additive designation is not a nutrition or health claim under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. Separately: the word “starch” in the voluntary nutrition declaration (Article 30(2) of Regulation 1169/2011) is a nutrient of that declaration, not an ingredient name. The Commission notice of questions and answers on the application of Regulation 1169/2011 (2018/C 196/01) does not rewrite that distinction into a new rule for designating modified starch — the designation rule remains Annex VII.
Questions
How should E 1442 be designated when it acts as a bulking agent?
The category of the principal function from Part C, followed by the specific name or the E number: “bulking agent: hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate” or “bulking agent: (E 1442)”.
Must every modified starch carry an E number?
No. Part B: “starch”, no E number. An E number is the route of a chemical additive, including E 1442. Not every technological modification is an additive.
May every possible function of E 1442 be listed at once?
No. One category, the one of the principal function in that food.
Does a correct name mean the additive is authorised?
No. Name and authorisation are two regimes. Designation is not a health claim either.
Primary sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 — Articles 15, 18, 20(b), 21; Annex II (allergens); Annex VII Part B point 4 and Part C, including the categories Bulking agent / Modified starch and the footnote that for modified starch the specific name or E number shall not be required. German Part C: Füllstoff; Modifizierte Stärke. ELI: eli/reg/2011/1169/oj.
- Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 — Article 3(2) (exclusion of, among others, physically or enzymatically modified starch, starch modified by acid or alkali treatment, and bleached starch); Annex I (classes, including bulking agents and modified starches); Annex II Part B (E 1442 Hydroxy propyl distarch phosphate; series E 1404–E 1452) and Part C Group I (E 1442, quantum satis); Parts D/E — conditions of use by food category, including category 17.
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 — specification E 1442 HYDROXYPROPYL DISTARCH PHOSPHATE.
- Commission notice 2018/C 196/01 — questions and answers on the application of Regulation 1169/2011. It does not replace Part C; “starch” in Article 30(2) is an optional nutrition-declaration nutrient.