4 Low FODMAP Diet Label Reading Tips
This article is sponsored by Sifter, an online grocery shopping site to find foods that are personalized to your dietary needs.
The low FODMAP diet is a three-phase dietary protocol for those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The goal with this protocol is to reduce symptoms, identify food triggers, and then build a diverse diet around those triggers. This is meant to be done alongside a trained registered dietitian. Learn more about the protocol here.
One of the challenging parts of the low FODMAP diet is making sure the food you buy lines up with the lists to follow. There are many foods that are eliminated as part of the protocol, and this can leave many feeling overwhelmed and confused, especially at the grocery store.
Thankfully, this can get easier by reading food labels effectively. The food label, also known as the nutrition facts label in the United States, is typically found on the back of a food product that is packaged for sale to consumers. This is where you can find details about the product, including serving sizes and servings in the package, nutritional breakdown for each serving, and ingredients.
The ingredients list is not officially part of the nutrition facts label, but will be found either at the bottom or near the label, so we can include it here. While the serving information and the nutritional breakdown are both important for other reasons, the ingredients list is the most valuable section when we are considering what is or isn’t low FODMAP. The following tips will help you read the ingredients lists to find low FODMAP foods with confidence.
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Know your lists and have them within reach
The key to identifying high FODMAP ingredients is to have a list you can reference. High FODMAP foods may not be easy to memorize when you’re starting the protocol, so it’s important you find lists that are accurate and easy to access when you need them. The gold standard for this is the Monash University Low FODMAP Diet app. It does cost a small amount of money, but it will be up to date and will be a resource you can trust to be accurate.
Another option would be the food lists your registered dietitian gave you when you started the protocol. You can print this list out and carry with you around the store or save it on your phone for easy access.
With the lists in hand, you will have more success if you have already reviewed them a few times. This helps you feel more familiar with the ingredients you are looking for and will save you time as you read through each list.
Read through each ingredient on the list
When reading through your ingredients list, know that each ingredient is listed according to weight. This means that those present in the highest quantity in the product you are viewing will be listed first, and those in the lowest quantity will be last. The FODMAP content for each specific ingredient is going to be portion-size dependent and you won’t know the exact portions when reviewing a food label, but you can use this knowledge of the order of ingredients to help navigate those you are looking at.
If you’re new to the low FODMAP diet, it’s best to avoid products that have moderate-high FODMAP foods in the ingredients list. As you become more familiar with portion sizes, you may choose to include some ingredients that are moderately high in FODMAPs, meaning the FODMAP content for that particular ingredient is only high in larger portions, if they appear lower in the list. Some ingredients that may be okay if listed further on the list include wheat, barley, or rye. This is something your registered dietitian can help you personalize and work through.
Common ingredients to watch for in the ingredients list: apple juice, agave syrup, molasses, honey, high fructose corn syrup, chicory root, inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), garlic powder, onion salt or power, isoglucose, isolated fructose, maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, and whole soy beans. These are not all high FODMAP foods, so be sure to also check for others from your FODMAP lists.
There are also confusing ingredients that are thought to be higher FODMAP and may not appear on your lists. These include gram flour, lentil flour, milk curds, milk solids, whey protein concentrate, and yacon syrup.
Beware of unclear ingredients or labels
There are some ingredients and labels that you may find in your ingredients list that can seem unclear. These include:
Natural flavors, which can include garlic powder and onion powder
Spices, which may include high FODMAP ingredients outside of the United States (can’t include garlic or onion in the United States)
Ingredients ending in -ol, which are typically sugar alcohols (polyols)
Fruit juices or concentrates
Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), chicory root, and inulin
Hidden lactose names that include milk, buttermilk, sour cream, cream, and whey protein concentrate
Keep a list of safe foods you enjoy
As you find products that you enjoy, compile them in a list you can access the next time you go to the store. This is great to do on a note in your phone. When you keep up with products you know are low FODMAP and you know you like, you’ll be able to check labels less and save time.
Want to make this whole process easier?
If you’re finding that reading labels is still a bit too overwhelming, here are a few quick tips to make it easier:
Keep things simple with whole foods. You’ll still need your food lists to navigate these, but there will be less complexity due to there only being one ingredient versus a full list.
Prepare before you go to the store by making a list and researching products ahead of time.
Look for certified low FODMAP products. You can search for the Monash University logo or the FODMAP Friendly logo to spot certified low FODMAP products you can trust. You can’t tell if a food is low FODMAP by looking for gluten free or dairy free labels, so avoid this mistake.
Shop online with Sifter!
Sifter is a powerful new FREE online shopping site that makes it simple to find, explore, and buy products that fit your personalized diet, medical needs, and lifestyle. This means you can “sift” through products to find those that are low FODMAP, and Sifter will do the hard work for you.
How Sifter works: create a profile here and customize it to meet your dietary needs, then only products that meet your needs will be shown to you so you can add them to your cart with confidence. These items will come from trusted retailers including Walmart, Amazon, Stop & Shop, Giant, and other major grocers and drugstores.
Sifter is like shopping with a dietitian! With more than 100 dietary filters to select from, called SiftTags, users can apply the Siftags important to them for their own personalized online grocery shopping experience.
I love how you can quickly find products that are low FODMAP and you can save them for future orders to save time and energy in the process.
The information provided by Sifter is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease or medical health condition nor substitute for advice from your own healthcare provider. Sifter users are encouraged to check product labels to be certain product choices match personal preferences.
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