Reading food labels for low-FODMAP eating is a science in itself. Ingredient lists may have unfamiliar words, and quantity of each ingredient is not specifically disclosed. However, you can follow some basic principles to ensure you are not accidentally eating high-FODMAP additives and are sticking to a low-FODMAP diet.
For starters, ingredients are listed in order of weight. So, the item listed first has the highest weight in the product, and the last item may only be a tiny fraction of the product. That can be helpful, for example, in a food that lists onion powder as the last ingredient. The actual amount of onion powder could be so small that you tolerate it, even though it wouldn’t necessarily seem low-FODMAP. Tricky, right?
Next, some names may not be on any approved low-FODMAP lists. If you haven’t heard of it, can’t find out what it is, then don’t eat it. Sometimes a simple Google search can help. Personally, I recently was about to eat something containing ‘yacon syrup’. I thought this is probably low-FODMAP since I hadn’t heard of it! Turns out, it is a fructo-oligosaccharide (or FOS)- truly havoc for my gut. Glad I checked online first.
Here is a list of low-FODMAP and high-FODMAP label additives to help you accomplish your low-FODMAP diet goals! You can download the PDF for low-FODMAP food lists and low-FODMAP label reading and our amazing “Happy Gut Guide” here.
Also…Check out over 500 low FODMAP recipes right here on the blog!
Be healthy and happy,
Rachel Pauls, MD
Dr. Rachel’s FODMAP label reading 101- how to know what is safe to eat:
Low-FODMAP additives: these are all low-FODMAP!
- Almond extract
- Apple cider vinegar
- Asafoetida (this is a spice that can impart onion/garlic type flavors to food)
- Aspartame
- Balsamic vinegar (less than 1 TB)
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Brown sugar
- Buckwheat
- Cane sugar
- Cane juice
- Cane juice crystals
- Carageenan
- Cellulose
- Citric acid
- Cocoa (limit to 8 g or 2 tsp)
- Confectioners sugar
- Corn starch
- Corn syrup (not high fructose variety)
- Glucose
- Guar gum
- Icing sugar
- Locust bean gum
- Malt extract
- Maltose
- Maple syrup
- Miso paste
- Modified food starch
- Pectin
- Potato starch
- Resistant starch
- Rice flour
- Rice protein
- Rice wine vinegar
- Saccharin
- Stevia
- Sucralose
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- Soybean oil
- Soy lecithin
- Soy sauce
- Tapioca starch
- Tapioca flour
- Vanilla extract
- Wasabi
- Wheat dextrin
- Wheat starch
- Whey protein isolate (low lactose variety)
- Xanthan gum
High FODMAP additives: (avoid these)
- Agave syrup
- Amaranth (over ¼ cup)
- Barley
- Chicken salt (often contains onion and garlic)
- Chickpea flour
- Chicory Root Fiber
- Coconut treacle
- Crystalline fructose
- Dehydrated vegetables (onion, garlic, etc)
- Dry milk solids
- Dried fruits
- Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS)
- Fructose and fructose solids
- Fructose-glucose syrup
- Fructans
- Fruit juice concentrate- includes apple juice, pear juice, and other juices
- Garlic powder
- Gluco-oligosaccharides (GOS)
- Glucose-fructose syrup
- Glycerin/Glycerol (check vitamins and supplements)
- Golden syrup
- High fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
- Inulin
- Isoglucose
- Isomalt
- Kamut
- Lactitol
- Lactulose
- Maltitol
- Mannitol
- Milk solids
- Molasses
- Natural flavors (in savory foods often contain onion and garlic)
- Onion powder
- Onion extract
- Polydextrose
- Rye
- Sorbitol
- Soybeans
- Soybutter
- Soy protein
- Spice mixtures (check ingredients for onion, garlic)
- Sugar free mints/gum/cough drops (often contain sorbitol or other polyol)
- Xylitol
- Yacon syrup
Also, know that these lists are evolving, as we test more products and understand interactions better. So keep updating, and remember to enjoy eating!
