FODMAP scanner
Scan or search a product and see which ingredients are commonly grouped as FODMAPs — with the exact label name that triggered each match, so you know exactly what you’re looking at.
What FODMAP means on a label
FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols — a group of short-chain carbohydrates that some people find harder to digest. On an ingredient list they show up under names that don’t mention “FODMAP” at all: inulin, chicory root fibre, fructans, polyols such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and erythritol, high-fructose corn syrup, and onion or garlic powder. Our FODMAP label guide and the FODMAP section of the intolerances hub go through the full list.
Who uses a FODMAP scanner
Typically someone who is already following a structured low-FODMAP approach — often as part of an elimination-and-reintroduction process guided by a dietitian — and needs to recognise the relevant ingredient names quickly while shopping, rather than re-deriving them from memory every time. FoodBuddy doesn’t diagnose IBS or any other condition and doesn’t decide the plan for you; it’s a faster way to see whether a specific term you already care about is present, so you can look at the physical label with information rather than guesswork.
Set your profile once — switch on FODMAP as an interest area and choose a sensitivity level.
Check a product — scan the label, search the database, or look it up by barcode.
Read the breakdown — every matched ingredient shows the label term, the match type, and why it was flagged.
Why FODMAP ingredients are easy to miss
The naming is the hard part. Inulin can be listed as “chicory root extract” or “prebiotic fibre”; fructans hide inside wheat- or rye-based ingredients; a polyol can appear only as an E-number (E420, E421, E953, E965…). A one-time read of the list rarely catches all of these — FoodBuddy checks against the alternative names, not just the headline term, and shows which one matched.
Match confidence, shown honestly
Each result is labelled by how certain it is: a direct match is a known name for a FODMAP-relevant ingredient; a keyword match resembles one closely enough to flag but not confirm; an unverified result means the scanner couldn’t identify the term confidently. Details are in our methodology — we’d rather show you an honest “not sure” than a false green light.
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