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    • Frusano Promise

    When looking for fructose free or low FODMAP food, reading the label sometimes isn't enough. How much fructose, or what ingredients are rich in fructose aren't just simply marked on the label. Where sorbitol or other sugar alcohols might be hiding isn't always so clear. At Frusano we control fructose and FODMAPs. Our company is based on using knowledge of ingredients, recipes, and processes to make suitable food for people with fructose intolerance or who follow a low FODMAP diet.

    It can be complicated to find foods that taste great and are gentle on your gut. At Frusano, all our products are suitable for fructose intolerance and the low FODMAP diet. Many of our foods are suitable for other intolerances as well, such as being gluten free and lactose free, or vegan. All of these qualities together make our products suitable for as many people as possible.

    We pledge/gaurantee to provide you with the highest quality foods, custom-made for people with intolerances. To do that, we follow a process to ensure that our foods are suitable for the people we make them for.

    When we create products, we keep a few key pieces of information in mind to make foods that taste amazing, without problematic ingredients, and are always low fructose or fructose-free (what's the difference?), and that fall within or lower than legal definitions or guidelines like gluten-free or lactose-free, and are always below established FODMAP thresholds.

    Thresholds for people with intolerances

    When we create products, we test them in the initial recipe creation phase and retest them continuously to make sure that we always have control over the natural products we use. We test for:

    Fructose

    At Frusano, we monitor fructose levels very closely. While a low FODMAP diet and low FODMAP-certified products restrict only "excess fructose" we control both excess fructose and Total Fructose. This is essential, as we know that people who are sensitive to fructose need to be very careful of any fructose, regardless of the amount of glucose.

    • A product that contains under 0.5 grams of total fructose or under 0.5 grams of sucrose per 100 grams would be fructose-free (for example, our Corn Sugar, and our Hard Candies).

    • A product with more than 0.5 grams but less than 5 grams of fructose or sucrose per 100g would be considered low fructose (for example, our Milk Chocolate, Ketchup, and Fruit Spreads)

    Take a look at our detailed Sugar Info on our webshop of our Milk Chocolate:

    Detailed information about different sugars on our online shop.

    To find out more information about how we measure fructose, please consult our page Fructose-free and Low Fructose. 

    Sucrose

    We never use regular sugar (sucrose) in our products. Sucrose is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Many low FODMAP products allow sucrose, assuming equal fructose and glucose make it digestible. However, those sensitive to fructose may still react to even small amounts.


    When using sucrose-containing ingredients like peanuts, we carefully control the amount. For example, our Cream n Crunchy Peanut Bar contains <3g/100g sucrose and <1g/100g fructose, making it suitable for a low-fructose diet.


    We used the maximum amount of peanuts we could in our Cream n Crunchy Peanut Bar while still keeping the natural sucrose level low.

    Excess Fructose vs Total Fructose

    "Excess fructose" refers to fructose not balanced by glucose, but it doesn’t account for total fructose content. Many low FODMAP certifications focus only on excess fructose, not the full amount.

    At Frusano, we measure total fructose to ensure our products are truly suitable for those sensitive to fructose. For more details, visit page.

    Polyols (Sorbitol & Mannitol)

    Sugar alcohols cannot be tolerated very well by people suffering from fructose intolerance, and so we have an especially low level or no sorbitol or mannitol in our products. This is why we avoid using stone fruits in our fruit spreads since they are naturally very high in sorbitol. How would you know if you're sensitive to sorbitol? If you eat too many apricots, you might have a stomach ache.

    Sugar alcohols use the same transporter in the gut to be digested as fructose, so people with fructose intolerance need to be careful of how much sorbitol or mannitol they can tolerate.

    Lactose & Gluten

    Our lactose guidelines follow strict German guidelines, so when a product is marked "lactose-free" it contains <0,1g/100g, and for products that are below <1g/100g the products are marked "low in lactose." This is much below the low FODMAP threshold (with some certifying bodies allowing up to 4g per serving).

    Our products that are listed as "gluten-free" follow the EU legal regulations 1169/2011 and 828/2014.

    Other FODMAPs

    Ogliosaccharides (Galacto-oligosaccharides and Fructans): Our products do not contain GOS which are mostly found in onions and garlic. 

    Fructans are found in very high levels in onions, garlic, and Jerusalem artichokes. Historically it was believed that wheat and spelt had high amounts of fructans, but in testing our products containing organic what and spelt, we have never found high concentrations of fructans. All our fructan levels are within low FODMAP thresholds,including our products that contain wheat and spelt.

    Carefully Selected Ingredients

    At Frusano, we try to consider all intolerances and dietary restrictions when we create products. A major part of this starts when we select the ingredients we will use in crafting our food.

    For example, we do not use stone fruits which have higher levels of sorbitol and we avoid high-fructose ingredients like apples or dried dates. We only use our custom-made fructose-free sugar to sweeten our products. Depending on the product we use our sugar in liquid or dried form.

    We also use different kinds of grains to offer a selection for people who are sensitive to fructans or gluten-free for those with wheat sensitivity. Whenever possible we make our products vegan. We always make our products lactose-free, or at least low lactose. For example, our Milk Chocolate is made with lactose-free milk powder. All of these things are considered so we can create products custom-made for people with intolerances.

    Testing & Re-testing

    We do not put any new products out for sale until the lab results have come back, and we are certain they are within our limits, which we openly communicate.

    You might be wondering why we would need to test and re-test our products. The levels of fructose and sucrose in natural products can vary, and sometimes even the levels of sugar alcohols like sorbitol or mannitol. Take a look at some example results of fructose and sucrose levels over three different batches:

    Total fructose levels can vary based on different environmental factors in natural ingredients, this is why we test and re-test our products.

    When we create new products, we test them to make sure that our recipe falls in our thresholds. Moreover, we also re-test new product batches and key ingredients to monitor our current products, because we are dealing with natural ingredients.

    For example, a strawberry grown in the hot and dry July sun does not have the same level of fructose as a strawberry harvested on a wet May morning.

    Honesty is the best policy

    If a product comes back with results indicating that the thresholds are higher than our standards allow we open communicate that, and do not sell it.

    Our threshold for low-fructose is very, very low. It's rare, but not impossible for a product to have values that slightly exceed our permitted thresholds, despite even the most stringent controls. If this happens, our quality assurance does not release it for normal sale.

    The Frusano Promise: We take food manufacturing seriously

    We know how complicated it can be to find products that fit your unique needs. Our brand is based on providing high-quality and tested products so that you can enjoy your food with confidence.

    At Frusano, we do not take the responsibility of creating fructose-free and low-FODMAP food lightly. We have found that the best way to be able to guarantee the quality of our products is by careful consideration of recipes and continuous testing.

    This way, when we say “fructose-free” or “low FODMAP” you know exactly what we mean. With this knowledge, you have more control over what you eat and can be confident that you know what you are eating.

    Our promise to you is that we will always be open, honest, and data-backed.