When is cornflour not cornflour?
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (374991)
Rockingham, Australia
March 21, 2026 3:36am CST
We have a packet of Nurses cornflour in our pantry but it says it’s made from wheat so what the heck? I decided to ask ChatGPT for its opinion.
ChatGPT originally said that, in places like Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, cornflour is made from corn (maize). It might be called cornstarch in America. In America, cornflour is more likely to mean finely ground cornmeal.
When I asked it how come our packet said it was made from wheat, its first response was ‘Good catch’! It then went to say that historically in Australia, some products kept the name cornflour, although not strictly from corn. This packet hasn't changed at all since I was a young girl.
7 people like this
7 responses
@DaddyEvil (170468)
• United States
7h
That does sound very odd. I haven't heard of this before and wonder about people who are allergic to wheat. Will this still make them sick?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (496027)
• Italy
8h
This is really weird! We use corn flour when we know that someone is gluten intolerant, should it be made with wheat it would be a problem. Cornflour is called "Maizena" here because made from mais (corn). It's even more fine than flour and it's white.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (54465)
• United States
46m
I bet that was a surprise to find out. I wonder how many things are not what we think ?
