One Hundred Years of Commercial Food Carbohydrates in the United States

Abstract

Initiation and development of the industries producing specialty starches, modified food starches, high-fructose sweeteners, and food gums (hydrocolloids) over the past century provided major ingredients for the rapid and extensive growth of the processed food and beverage industries. Introduction of waxy maize starch and high-amylose corn starch occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, respectively. Development and growth of the modified food starch industry to provide ingredients with the functionalities required for the fast-growing processed food industry were rapid during the 1940s and 1950s. The various reagents used today for making cross-linked and stabilized starch products were introduced between 1942 and 1961. The initial report of enzyme-catalyzed isomerization of glucose to fructose was made in 1957. Explosive growth of high-fructose syrup manufacture and use occurred between 1966 and 1984. Maltodextrins were introduced between 1967 and 1973. Production of methylcelluloses and carboxymethylcelluloses began in the 1940s. The carrageenan industry began in the 1930s and grew rapidly in the 1940s and 1950s; the same is true of the development and production of alginate products. The guar gum industry developed in the 1940s and 1950s. The xanthan industry came into being during the 1950s and 1960s. Microcrystalline cellulose was introduced in the 1960s. Therefore, most carbohydrate food ingredients were introduced in about a 25 year period between 1940 and 1965. Exceptions are the introduction of maltodextrins and major developments in the high-fructose syrup industry, which occurred in the 1970s.