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Ingredient dictionary

Starch on a food label: allergens, diets and other names

Some kinds of starch carry an allergen (gluten). It is vegan. Open Food Facts finds it in 254,356 products, most often in biscuits and cakes. Per 100 g: about 362 kcal and 0.4 g protein.

By Bravoora teamUpdated Sources checked 5 sourcesHow we check

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Does starch contain an allergen?

It depends on the kind. Some kinds of starch carry an allergen: wheat starch, modified wheat starch and pregelatinized wheat starch contain gluten. A label must name the allergen, so check which kind it says.

Is starch vegan?

Yes. Starch is vegan and vegetarian: Open Food Facts records nothing from an animal in it.

VeganFits youNothing from an animal, by the Open Food Facts record.
VegetarianFits youNothing from an animal, by the Open Food Facts record.
Coeliac or gluten-freeHeads upSome kinds contain gluten, for example wheat starch.

A pack can differ from the usual recipe: the app reads the label in your hand.

What other names does starch have on a label?

In English starch can also read “food starch” or “starches”. On European labels it is “amidon” in French, “Stärke” in German and “almidón” in Spanish. The other 13 languages are listed below.

In Englishfood starchstarches
French
amidon, fécules
German
Stärke, Stärken
Spanish
almidón, fecula
Italian
Amido, amidi
Dutch
zetmeel, zetmelen
Portuguese
amido
Polish
Skrobia, skrobie
Swedish
stärkelse
Danish
stivelse
Norwegian
stivelse
Finnish
tärkkelys, tärkkelystä
Czech
Škrob
Hungarian
Keményítő
Romanian
Amidon
Croatian
škrob
Turkish
Nişasta

Which foods contain starch?

Open Food Facts lists starch or a more specific kind of it in the ingredients of 254,356 products, most often biscuits and cakes, ready meals and dressings and sauces. Most of them are sold in the United States, France and Germany.

  • Biscuits and cakes31,393
  • Ready meals23,586
  • Dressings and sauces16,941
  • Sweets15,358
  • Milk and yoghurt10,490
  • Pasta, rice and flour6,299

Products with it, by country of sale: United States 100,718 · France 67,289 · Germany 25,274 · United Kingdom 13,883.

Counted on 13 October 2026 from the Open Food Facts product database, which volunteers fill from real packs: it shows where starch turns up, not how much of the market it is.

How many calories are in starch?

Starch has about 362 kcal per 100 g, with 0.4 g protein, 89 g carbohydrate and 0.3 g fat. The figures are for the entry “Maize/corn starch” (the closest food in the table) in CIQUAL, the French food composition table published by ANSES.

362kcal per 100 g
0.4g protein
89g carbohydrate
0.3g fat

Also per 100 g: sugars 0 g, saturated fat 0 g, fibre 0.8 g, salt 0.02 g, energy 1,540 kJ.

ANSES CIQUAL table, CALNUT 2020 edition, food code 9510 (the closest food in the table). A product’s own nutrition panel is the figure to log.

What kind of ingredient is starch?

Kinds of starchCorn starchModified starchPotato starchTapiocaWheat starchRice starchPea starchSweet potato starchSagoMung bean starchBarley starchNon-modified starchArrowroot powder

Bravoora reads this ingredient for everyone you shop for: an allergy or intolerance, a vegan or vegetarian diet, a calorie or protein goal, and the labels on supplements and skincare too. Build a profile · For dietitians, doctors and trainers

Sources

An allergen is stated only when two of three checks agree: the Open Food Facts record, Bravoora’s label checker, and the ingredient’s own name or family (oat flour is oats, a cheese is milk). Every name where they disagree waits for a person to review it.

  1. Open Food Facts: Starch
  2. Open Food Facts: ingredients taxonomy (names, family tree, allergen and vegan flags), ODbL
  3. Open Food Facts: product database, 4,535,553 products, read 13 October 2026, ODbL
  4. ANSES: CIQUAL French food composition table (CALNUT 2020 edition), Licence Ouverte 2.0
  5. Wikipedia: Starch

Contains information from Open Food Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL). Read the licence · Download this dictionary’s data · How we check

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