[pronounced: malt-o-DEX-tren]

Corn maltodextrin is found in a variety of solution and therapeutic formulas as a carbohydrate source to replace lactose, the natural carbohydrate in milk. It has several properties that make it a helpful infant formula ingredient.

What is maltodextrin?

Maltodextrin a common food additive made from a well-known ingredient: starch. Structurally, starch and maltodextrin are quite similar. Both are strings of the simple sugar glucose linked together, often in a single line like cars on a train.

Starches are extremely long, with up to 1,000 glucose “cars” linked together. Maltodextrin is made by breaking up the starch into short trains. In other words, maltodextrin is a mini-starch!

Is maltodextrin derived from corn?

Maltodextrin can be derived from corn, but it also is made from other starchy foods like rice, wheat, potato, and corn. In the United States most maltodextrin is made from corn and is labeled as such. According to Wikipedia, maltodextrin in Europe comes from wheat.

What is maltodextrin used for?

Maltodextrin is found in a variety of solution and therapeutic formulas as a replacement for the natural milk carbohydrate lactose.

Therapeutic infant formulas are designed to treat allergies and malabsorption. These formulas tend to have ingredients that draw water into the bowel (i.e., heath professionals call this a high osmotic load). This feature can cause diarrhea. Using corn maltodextrin can make digestion easier and reduce the chance for diarrhea.

Maltodextrin can be found in solution formulas too. Just like with therapeutic formulas, it is added as a replacement for lactose. Maltodextrin doesn’t taste as sweet as other carbohydrates, a quality that many parents like.

Maltodextrin in baby formula

In addition to being an easy to digest form of carbohydrate, maltodextrin has another helpful quality. It has a very nice texture or “mouthfeel”. A gritty formula would be awful! Naturally, every parent wants their bay to have a smooth, nice tasting formula. Maltodextrin is also a very stable ingredient that doesn’t interact with other formula ingredients.

Maltodextrin Allergy

Although maltodextrin is in formulas used to treat allergies, it is possible to have an allergy or intolerance to maltodextrin. This is true of almost any food!

Maltodextrin allergy is usually due the starchy food used to make it. Rice, wheat, potato, and corn are all used to make maltodextrin. Trace amounts of protein from these foods can be left in the maltodextrin. These trace proteins can cause an allergic reaction.

Even tiny amounts of a protein can cause a reaction in someone allergic to a food. Therefore allergy formulas are made with hydrolyzed proteins that are broken down into tiny pieces.

People with a corn allergy should avoid corn maltodextrin. People with celiac disease or a wheat allergy should avoid maltodextrin made from wheat.

Corn Maltodextrin vs Corn Syrup

Corn maltodextrin and corn syrup are related to each other. Remember our train from earlier?

Corn maltodextrin is glucose molecules linked together. Corn syrup is also glucose molecules chained together. The difference is how many molecules, in our example train cars, are linked.

Maltodextrins have more glucoses linked together than corn syrup does. In other words, corn syrup is a shorter glucose train than maltodextrin.

Tapioca Maltodextrin vs Corn Maltodextrin

Maltodextrins can be made from many starchy foods. Tapioca is a starch made from the root of the cassava plant. Cassava is an important food source in the economically developing world.

Tapioca maltodextrin is not used in infant formula. Cassava contains two harmful compounds that must be removed by processing before it is safe to eat it. Since it must be detoxified for safe eating, it isn’t used in infant formula.

What are the dangers of maltodextrin?

Maltodextrin is a very safe food ingredient. It is approved for use in infant formulas in the United States and in Europe. Remember that infant formulas in the United States are tested and monitored for safety.

At the same time, maltodextrin is a highly processed ingredient. It should be used in formula only when necessary. Formula Sense has not found any research about the long-term consequences of replacing lactose with maltodextrin. One pre-clinical study done in piglets, found that the type of carbohydrate did not change short-term memory and maltodextrin was better for long-term memory.

More research on this topic is needed! At the same time, parents can feel confident knowing that current research and experience shows these formulas to be safe.

Points to Remember

Maltodextrin is used in some infant formulas as a replacement for the natural milk carbohydrate lactose.
Only some specialty formulas made for GI concerns or allergies contain maltodextrin.
Maltodextrin is like starch and corn syrup solids. It is a chain of glucose molecules linked together. A starch molecule has the longest chain, followed by maltodextrin, and then corn syrup with the shortest number of glucose molecules linked together.
This formula ingredient is very safe. Some babies may even feel better drinking specialty formulas with maltodextrin.
Maltodextrin allergies are rare, but possible.

And finally, always talk to your health provider if you have questions or concerns about the ingredients in your infant formula. If you need help choosing a formula, download our parent guide or sign up for a personalized education session!

This post was updated in January 2022

What is Corn Maltodextrin?