The procedure for preparing the semi-fluid food product consists of the following stages: a) partial enzymatic hydrolysis of a native starch (of vegetable origin) to give a dextrose equivalent of 10 or below; b) cooling the hydrolysed native starch and maintaining it at a temperature of between 70 and 95 degrees C; cooling the hydrolysed native starch from stage a) or b) to between 40 and 95 degrees C; and mixing the hydrolysed native starch at between 40 and 95 degrees C with a food product. In the initial stage a) a mixture prepared from the native starch (2 - 20 per cent by weight), amylase ( 2 - 30 ppm), a sweetener (0 - 30 per cent) and water (to 100 per cent) is heated to a temperature at which the starch gelatinises and maintained at that temperature for a preferable time of 2 - 8 minutes. It is then raised to a temperature at which the amylase is inactivated, preferably between 105 and 110 degrees C, at which it is kept for 2 - 5 minutes. The native starch can be obtained from manioc, maize, wheat, barley, potato, rice, rye, sorghum, millet, sago or banana, and the food product can be based on milk, soya, cereals, fruit ot a mixture of these, and can contain solid particles of cereals, fruit, chocolate, toffee or coffee.