in the EU food ingredients without an E-number. Typical modified starches for technical applications are cationic starches, hydroxyethyl starch and carboxymethylated starches. Use as food additive As an additive for food processing, food starches are typically used as thickeners and stabilizers in foods such as puddings, custards, soups, sauces, gravies, pie fillings, and salad dressings, and to make noodles and pastas. They function as thickeners, extenders, emulsion stabilizers and are exceptional binders in processed meats. Gummed sweets such as jelly beans and wine gums are not manufactured using a mold in the conventional sense. A tray is filled with native starch and leveled. A positive mold is then pressed into the starch leaving an impression of 1,000 or so jelly beans. The jelly mix is then poured into the impressions and put onto a stove to set. This method greatly reduces the number of molds that must be manufactured. Use in pharmaceutical industry In the pharmaceutical industry, starch is also used as an excipient, as tablet disintegrant, and as binder. Resistant starch Resistant starch is starch that escapes digestion in the small intestine of healthy individuals. High-amylose starch from wheat or corn has a higher gelatinization temperature than other types of starch, and retains its resistant starch content through baking, mild extrusion and other food processing techniques. It is used as an insoluble dietary fiber in processed foods such as bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, pretzels and other low moisture foods. It is also utilized as a dietary supplement for its health benefits. Published studies have shown that resistant starch helps to improve insulin sensitivity, reduces pro-inflammatory biomarkers interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha and improves markers of colonic function. It has been suggested that resistant starch contributes to the health benefits of intact whole grains. Synthetic starch In 2021, researchers reported the world's first artificial synthesis of starch in the laboratory. A cell-free chemoenzymatic process was used to synthesize starch from CO2 and hydrogen. If the process is viable and can be scaled, it could substantially reduce land-, pesticide- and water-use as well as greenhouse gas emissions while increasing food security. The chemical pathway of 11 core reactions was drafted by computational pathway design and converts CO2 to starch at a rate that is ~8.5-fold higher than starch synthesis in maize. Non-food applications Papermaking Papermaking is the largest non-food application for starches globally, consuming many millions of metric tons