What it is
Starch rebuilt with industrial reagents — cross-linked, acetylated, oxidised — so it survives heat, acid, freezing and high-speed machines. The E-number names the chemistry.
Why your biology objects
These create covalent bonds (esters, cross-links) that exist in no natural starch — an industrially novel molecule by definition — built with reagents like acetic anhydride and propylene oxide (the latter a probable carcinogen, controlled by residue limits). Native starch is just food; this is starch re-engineered for the production line.