Is E968 low FODMAP?

It depends on how much, and here is why

E968 is a source of polyols. Munchable flags it as a caution, and escalates to an avoid when it is one of the product's main ingredients, because the amount is what decides whether it matters.

On a real product, the reason Munchable shows reads: Contains polyols, a FODMAP; the amount may be small

What it is called on a label

E968 is also printed as erythritol, and as E968. Munchable recognises all of these as the same ingredient, which is the point of scanning rather than reading: the wording changes between brands and the rule does not.

What Munchable checks for IBS and low FODMAP

• Fructans: wheat, rye, barley, onion, garlic, inulin, chicory root, FOS
• GOS: legumes, chickpeas, lentils, soy flour
• Polyols: sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, isomalt, including their E-numbers
• Excess fructose: honey, high fructose corn syrup, agave, apple and pear concentrates
• Lactose, as the FODMAP view of dairy
• Where each one sits on the ingredients list, so a main ingredient outranks a trace

The full reasoning, and the evidence behind it, is in the IBS and low FODMAP guide.

E968 and the other patterns Munchable checks

• Is E968 OK for SIBO?

Other ingredients Munchable flags for IBS and low FODMAP

• Agave syrup
• Apple
• Apple juice
• Apricot
• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Barley
• Black bean
• Broad bean
• Buttermilk
• Cashew nuts

The catch with reading labels yourself

Knowing that E968 is a problem is the easy part. Finding it is the hard part: it hides behind wordings that do not look like it, it matters more near the top of the list than the bottom, and a product you have bought for years quietly reformulates. That is the job Munchable does in the aisle, in about a second, from the barcode.