Other and FODMAPs: 82 foods rated

Apple puree keeps the apple's double load - excess fructose and sorbitol - and loses the structure that made you chew. Unsweetened compote is the same fruit arriving faster, which is why it lands here rather than lower.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile
• Lenhart A. & Chey W.D., Adv Nutr 8 (2017) 587-596, systematic review of the effects of polyols

A bouillon cube is stock with the water taken out, so the FODMAP of whatever allium went in is concentrated into a few grams - and the ingredient list will say "vegetables" or "flavourings" without a quantity. One cube makes half a litre, which is not a small serving of anything.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Hummus fails twice: chickpea GOS and garlic fructans, and the garlic is usually the larger problem of the two. A garlic-free hummus made from well-rinsed canned chickpeas is a genuinely different food, and it is one of the few dips worth making at home for that reason.

Inulin is a chain of fructans added as fibre or prebiotic and is very high FODMAP, commonly causing gas and bloating even in small doses. Watch for it as 'inulin' or 'chicory root fibre' on labels of otherwise low-FODMAP products. For scale, in a whole diet rather than in a spoonful: a survey of more than 15,000 Americans put average intake at 2.6 g of inulin and 2.5 g of oligofructose a day - from 1.3 g in young children to 3.5 g in adult men - and found that wheat supplied about 70 per cent of it and onions about 25. Almost none of it came from an added ingredient. A product with inulin on the label therefore adds to a load that bread and onions have already built.

• Moshfegh A.J. et al., J Nutr 129:7 Suppl (1999) 1407S-1411S, inulin and oligofructose in the diets of Americans

Lactose is a disaccharide - the D in FODMAP. Without enough lactase it passes undigested into the colon, where bacteria ferment it. That is the same mechanism as any other FODMAP, which is why a FODMAP profile flags it even when lactose intolerance has not been diagnosed separately. Monash gives a SERVE THRESHOLD, which is a different object from a content. A threshold answers how much, and for grams per hundred the papers are the source, not the app. The class it belongs to is Gibson and Shepherd's, who named FODMAPs by class - fructose, lactose, fructans and galactans, polyols - and defined them by what they do: deliver rapidly fermentable substrate AND WATER to the end of the small intestine. Their trial found that restricting the whole class works where restricting one member at a time does not, and that the effect reverses on reintroduction. It is a review of the approach, so it carries no value for any food.

• Monash University FODMAP composition tables and app, for the serve threshold
• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on

Beef broth is built on roasted bones and browned vegetables, and the browning is done with onion. Roasting is hot enough to break part of the fructan, but the simmering that follows is not, and it is the simmering that matters: below boiling nothing is destroyed, the water-soluble chains simply move into the liquid you then drink.

Breadcrumbs are concentrated bread, but they are used as a coating rather than as a food - a thin layer on a cutlet is a fraction of a slice. The dose is smaller than the concentration suggests, which is why this sits at moderate and stuffing does not. This food is not among the 55 grain products behind the per-portion FODMAP figures, so its level is a placing and not a measurement.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Chicken broth is the one worth making at home for FODMAPs, because the chicken carries the flavour and the aromatics are optional. Bones, carrot, celery, bay and parsley give a stock that measures low here; it is the onion and garlic in the commercial version that put it at this level.

Chocolate chips are scattered rather than eaten as a bar, which usually keeps the dose small - but baking chips are milk chocolate more often than dark, so the lactose comes along without being announced. Check which kind before assuming.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

A croissant is mostly butter and air by volume, so the flour weight is lower than its size suggests - and butter carries no FODMAP worth counting. One small croissant is often manageable; the pain au raisin next to it is not, because the raisins bring their own load. This food is not among the 55 grain products behind this axis's per-portion figures, so its level is a placing and not a measurement.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Dark chocolate is moderate in FODMAPs on portion, not on principle: cocoa itself carries little, and a couple of squares is low. What moves it is quantity, and the higher the cocoa percentage the less sugar and milk come with it - so an 85% bar is the safer choice here for the same reason it is the bitterer one.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

In granola the oats are usually the least of it. What decides a given brand is what was added: dried fruit, honey, apple juice concentrate, cashews - each of which is high here on its own. Read the fruit and nut line before the grain line. This food is not among the 55 grain products behind the per-portion FODMAP figures, so its level is a placing and not a measurement.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Hazelnut spread is milk powder and sugar before it is hazelnut - read the order on the label. The lactose from the milk solids is the FODMAP here, not the nut: hazelnuts themselves are low at a normal serving, and there are not many in the jar.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Ketchup concentrates tomato and then adds sugar - often high-fructose corn syrup, sometimes onion powder. A tablespoon is the usual limit, and it is the added ingredients rather than the tomato that decide where a given brand sits.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Milk chocolate carries a FODMAP that dark chocolate does not: lactose, from the milk solids. That is the D of the acronym arriving through a food nobody files under dairy, and it is why the same two squares behave differently depending on which bar they came from.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Miso is a paste of soybeans fermented with koji mould, so the galacto-oligosaccharides and fructans of the soya bean are what put it on this axis, and how much of them survives depends on the ferment.

Natto is whole soybeans fermented by Bacillus subtilis, and it is the raffinose-family oligosaccharides of the bean that put it on this axis. Whether fermentation removes them depends on the organism rather than on fermentation itself: among the moulds that make tempeh, Rehms found R. oryzae and R. stolonifer consume stachyose, raffinose and melibiose completely, while R. oligosporus NRRL 2710 - the ordinary tempeh starter - hydrolyses none of them.

• Rehms H & Barz W, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 44 (1995) 47-52, degradation of stachyose, raffinose, melibiose and sucrose by different tempe-producing Rhizopus fungi
• it measures the fungi in culture rather than a finished food, and not the Bacillus that makes natto

Pasta is boiled in a large volume of water and then drained, and fructans are water-soluble - so some of the load goes down the sink. That is why a small serving of wheat pasta behaves better than the same weight of bread. Cook it in plenty of water, drain it properly, and keep the portion modest. Couscous, which is durum semolina like most pasta, came out HIGHEST of the 55 grain products surveyed at 1.12 g of fructan a portion. Pasta itself was not measured, so that figure places it rather than values it.

• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten

Pesto is high in FODMAP mainly from garlic (fructans), plus some lactose from cheese. A garlic-free pesto, or just a small amount, keeps it lower in FODMAP.

Sorbet is often high in FODMAP from fruit and added fructose or HFCS. A small serving made from low-FODMAP fruit is better tolerated.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Tomato powder is dehydrated tomato, so it multiplies the fruit's FODMAP many times over - but it is used by the teaspoon in seasoning mixes. The risk is that those mixes usually carry onion and garlic powder too, and those are the real problem.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Tomato sauce is cooked-down tomato, and cooking concentrates the FODMAP sugars while removing nothing. Half a cup is around the limit for a plain passata; a jarred sauce with onion and garlic in it is a different food and a different answer.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Vegetable broth is the worst of the three for FODMAPs, because onion is not an addition to it - onion, celery and carrot are the base it is built on. There is no version of commercial vegetable stock without allium worth speaking of, so this is one to make rather than buy.

White chocolate has no cocoa solids at all - it is cocoa butter, sugar and milk. So the only FODMAP in it is the lactose, in the highest proportion of the three chocolates. The bar with the least cocoa is the one with the most milk sugar.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Almond butter is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Almond cream is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Almond yogurt is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Beetroot juice powder rests on starch or a refined base, and starch is not a FODMAP - it is a polysaccharide, digested to glucose in the small intestine. What would change the answer is an added ingredient rather than the base: onion or garlic powder in the seasoning, or inulin added as fibre. The dependence on serving size comes from Gibson and Shepherd, who built this approach: what these carbohydrates do is deliver fermentable substrate and water to the end of the small intestine, so the quantity decides the distension. Their trial also found that restricting them GLOBALLY works where restricting them one at a time does not.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on
• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Cashew cheese is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Chocolate is low in FODMAPs, which surprises people who have found chocolate hard to tolerate. Cocoa itself carries little. What does the damage in a bar is usually the milk - lactose, the D of the acronym - or the inulin added as fibre in a reduced-sugar version. It is worth reading which.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Cocoa mass is low in FODMAPs, which surprises people who have found chocolate hard to tolerate. Cocoa itself carries little. What does the damage in a bar is usually the milk - lactose, the D of the acronym - or the inulin added as fibre in a reduced-sugar version. It is worth reading which.

Cocoa nibs are low in FODMAPs, which surprises people who have found chocolate hard to tolerate. Cocoa itself carries little. What does the damage in a bar is usually the milk - lactose, the D of the acronym - or the inulin added as fibre in a reduced-sugar version. It is worth reading which.

Coconut butter is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Coconut yogurt is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Cornflakes rests on starch or a refined base, and starch is not a FODMAP - it is a polysaccharide, digested to glucose in the small intestine. What would change the answer is an added ingredient rather than the base: onion or garlic powder in the seasoning, or inulin added as fibre. This food is not among the 55 grain products behind this axis's per-portion figures, so its level is a placing and not a measurement.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Dairy-free chocolate is low in FODMAPs, which surprises people who have found chocolate hard to tolerate. Cocoa itself carries little. What does the damage in a bar is usually the milk - lactose, the D of the acronym - or the inulin added as fibre in a reduced-sugar version. It is worth reading which.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Fermented tofu is low although the soybean is one of the highest-GOS foods there is, because it has been pressed first and then fermented, so both steps have worked on it. Soy is the clearest illustration on this axis that processing decides the level rather than the plant: the same bean gives natto at the top and this at the bottom.

French fries rests on starch or a refined base, and starch is not a FODMAP - it is a polysaccharide, digested to glucose in the small intestine. What would change the answer is an added ingredient rather than the base: onion or garlic powder in the seasoning, or inulin added as fibre. The dependence on serving size comes from Gibson and Shepherd, who built this approach: what these carbohydrates do is deliver fermentable substrate and water to the end of the small intestine, so the quantity decides the distension. Their trial also found that restricting them GLOBALLY works where restricting them one at a time does not.

• Gibson P.R. & Shepherd S.J., J Gastroenterol Hepatol 25 (2010) 252-258, the framework this axis rests on
• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Gluten-free bread is low here, but not for the reason most people assume. Gluten-free bread was measured at about the same fructan content as wheat bread - 1.0 against 0.6 to 1.9 grams per hundred - so removing the gluten did not remove the FODMAP. Why the finished loaf still tests low on the whole axis is not something this measurement can say: it counted fructan and nothing else, per hundred grams rather than per serving. The starch explanation is often repeated and nothing published carries it. Gluten-free and low-FODMAP are two different claims. The brand is the variable that matters: the gluten-free loaves measured ranged from 0.36 to 1.79 grams per hundred, five times apart.

• Whelan K et al., Int J Food Sci Nutr 62:5 (2011) 498-503, fructan measured in wheat, rye and gluten-free breads
• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Gluten-free pasta is low here, but not for the reason most people assume. Gluten-free bread was measured at about the same fructan content as wheat bread - 1.0 against 0.6 to 1.9 grams per hundred - so removing the gluten did not remove the FODMAP. What makes these products low is the starches they are built from. Gluten-free and low-FODMAP are two different claims.

• Whelan K et al., Int J Food Sci Nutr 62:5 (2011) 498-503, fructan measured in wheat, rye and gluten-free breads

Oat cream is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread. Oats measured 0.11 g of fructan a portion in that survey of 55, low but not zero, and oat cream is oats plus water and fat - the fructan comes along.

• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten

Oyster sauce rests on starch or a refined base, and starch is not a FODMAP - it is a polysaccharide, digested to glucose in the small intestine. What would change the answer is an added ingredient rather than the base: onion or garlic powder in the seasoning, or inulin added as fibre.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Plant-based cream cheese is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

Plant-based ice cream is built on a diluted base - oat, coconut or soy - and the serving is what keeps its FODMAP low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods
• USDA FoodData Central, the national nutrient database, queried for the sugar profile

Long sourdough fermentation breaks down much of the fructan content, which is why sourdough breads test far lower in FODMAPs than the flour they are made from. The reduction depends on fermentation time — a short, yeast-accelerated 'sourdough-style' loaf keeps most of its fructans. Monash gives a SERVE THRESHOLD, which is a different object from a content. A threshold answers how much, and for grams per hundred the papers are the source, not the app.

• Monash University FODMAP composition tables and app, for the serve threshold

Soy butter is low although the soybean is one of the highest-GOS foods there is, because it has been ground from beans that were cooked and drained first. Soy is the clearest illustration on this axis that processing decides the level rather than the plant: the same bean gives natto at the top and this at the bottom.

Soy cream is low although the soybean is one of the highest-GOS foods there is, because it has been a diluted drink, thickened with oil. Soy is the clearest illustration on this axis that processing decides the level rather than the plant: the same bean gives natto at the top and this at the bottom.

Soy yogurt is low although the soybean is one of the highest-GOS foods there is, because it has been fermented from the drink, and the culture eats what the dilution left. Soy is the clearest illustration on this axis that processing decides the level rather than the plant: the same bean gives natto at the top and this at the bottom.

Tahini is built on a diluted or small-quantity ingredient, and the serving is what keeps it low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread. This food is not among the 55 grain products behind the per-portion FODMAP figures, so its level is a placing and not a measurement.

• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten

Tempeh is low although the soybean carries the raffinose family in quantity, because it has been fermented, and the Rhizopus consumes the raffinose-family sugars. Soy is the clearest illustration on this axis that processing decides the level rather than the plant: the same bean gives natto at the top and this at the bottom. Tuck measured it directly: 0.26 grams of FODMAP per serve, classified low — which is the fermentation showing, since the soya bean it is made from is not.

• Tuck C et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 31 (2018), FODMAP content of common plant-based and processed foods

Tofu is low although the soybean is one of the highest-GOS foods there is, because it has been pressed, and the GOS left in the whey that was squeezed out. Soy is the clearest illustration on this axis that processing decides the level rather than the plant: the same bean gives natto at the top and this at the bottom.

Tortilla rests on starch or a refined base, and starch is not a FODMAP - it is a polysaccharide, digested to glucose in the small intestine. What would change the answer is an added ingredient rather than the base: onion or garlic powder in the seasoning, or inulin added as fibre. This food is not among the 55 grain products behind this axis's per-portion figures, so its level is a placing and not a measurement.

• Biesiekierski J et al., J Hum Nutr Diet 24 (2011) 154-176, fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides per portion as eaten

Vegan cheese is built on coconut oil, starch and a small nut fraction, and the serving is what keeps its FODMAP low. The FODMAP thresholds are set per portion rather than per concentration: a spoonful of a moderate ingredient and a bowl of a low one can land in the same place, which is how the same nut is high whole and low as a spread.