A new breed of fructose and FODMAP-friendly products are emerging in response to the increasingly common health problem known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Fructose is a sugar that is found naturally in many foods and is normally absorbed in the small bowel. In fructose malabsorption, this process is impaired and can cause bloating, pain and other stomach problems.
FODMAPs are a collection of sugars, including fructose, that are found in foods that cause IBS symptoms. Until recently, there was no formal registered definition relating to the fructose or FODMAP content of food products, so front of pack claims currently vary. Here’s a quick guide.
Fructose friendly
The term ‘fructose friendly’ isn’t an officially recognised definition, but it was coined to refer to a food that has more glucose in it than fructose.
The target audience for this term are people who have fructose malabsorption, because they can absorb fructose if it is present in foods with glucose, when the glucose that is present is in greater or equal amounts to the amount of fructose that is present.
Fructose-friendly products can contain brown or white sugar, which means people with fructose malabsorption can also eat them as the glucose and fructose ratio is 50:50. Honey or agave, though, are higher in fructose than glucose so they are not suited to those with fructose malabsorption.
Local healthy snacks and cereals manufacturer Food for Health uses this term on the packaging of its Fruit Free Bars and Fruit Free Clusters, which it says were the first fructose-free bar and cereal on the market.
According to the company, when these products were launched, it was unable to use the words fructose free, but this has now changed and it is now in the process of updating its packaging to reflect this change.
Food for Health says it is currently in the process of working on some more fructose-friendly products, which will be available in the new year, and it has just launched a new fructose-free seed mix called Super Seeds.
Fructose free
A product can only be determined to be free from fructose by analytical testing in a laboratory, and must have no detectable fructose present per 100g.
Freedom Foods uses the term on its recently launched combination muesli, which, according to its managing director Rory Macleod, was created to tap into the demand for fructose-free foods as fructose malabsorption awareness increases throughout Australia.
Fructose-free products are suitable for those with fructose malabsorption as they contain no fructose, and are also suited to people who choose to completely avoid fructose in their diet, such as those people following specific diet regimens like David Gillespie’s Sweet Poison Quit Plan or Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar program.
When an actual statement is made regarding the quantitative analysis of the fructose content of a food – say 99.7 per cent fructose free – this means it is the amount of fructose per 100g of final product that is detected in laboratory testing.
Melinda Trembath, owner and operator of Melinda’s, uses this type of claim on a new range of gluten-free premixes.
“When you label something ‘free from’ it must be either 100 per cent free or the percentage must be stated,” she says. “Because we use fruit powders in the new products, they come up at 0.3 per cent of fructose.
“We wanted to be 100 per cent transparent, as savvy Sweet Poison followers would question the fruit powder.”
FODMAP friendly
New claims relating to the broader category of IBS-causing sugars called FODMAPs are also finding their way onto packs.
A FODMAP-friendly accreditation and logo has been developed by advanced accredited practising dietitian Dr Sue Shepherd. It is endorsed by scientific findings, the medical community and government, and accreditation will also be worldwide, Shepherd says.
“So far, this is the only accreditation mark approved through government to be able to be applied to food products that meet the FODMAP-friendly criteria, which is based on the scientific research findings that created the Low FODMAP Diet,” she says.
Australian manufacturer Kez’s Kitchen is the first to use it on one of a new range of cereals and cereal bites that it’s rolling out nationally.
A small fee is paid for use of the logo and regular audits are undertaken to ensure integrity of the product in conforming to regulations.
To use the FODMAP-friendly logo, a product has to be laboratory-tested for the whole FODMAP range.
“This is important because each FODMAP can trigger symptoms of IBS,” Shepherd says.
“By removing or minimising one only from a food will not be helpful to manage IBS as there could still be other FODMAPs present to trigger IBS symptoms.”
