Starch is an essential item in human diet. It has important uses both in processed foods and in the manufacture of many nonfood products that have become necessities in modern life.

The paper and paper product industry is the largest user of the modified starch. The modified starch is being introduced into the pulp to add strength to the formed sheet. It is also used in surface sizing and in coating high-grade magazine papers.

Another large user of modified starch is the textile industry. It is used for warp sizing
preparatory to weaving, for sizing or finishing the cloth after it is woven, and in printing certain types of fabrics. Large quantities of modified starch are also used in laundering, both in commercial establishment and at home.

Although pudding represent the best known food use of starch, other uses in food and beverages account for far larger amounts. The largest single use in modified starch in the manufacture of product for human consumption is in beer brewing. Large quantities are also used in baking powder and confectionery, and a great deal goes into baked goods.

Another modified starch user is in pharmaceutical industry which uses large quantities in the manufacture of aspirin and other tablets. It is also useful in the production of certain metals, notably in refining bauxite, the pore form which aluminum is produced, and as a flotation agent in producing other metals. Starch and dextrin are important core-binding materials in foundries.

The petroleum industry has found that modified starch imparts desirable characteristics to the mud used in a drilling oil wells, and thousands of wells have been drilled using such mixtures (sand, water and gelatinized starch).

Modified starch has also important uses in explosives. Other industrial products which require smaller quantities of modified starch are dry cell batteries, boiler compounds, cork products, detergents, insecticides, shoe polishes, linoleum, plastics and water treatment compounds.