Apple Syrup

High FODMAP

By Michael EisenwasserUpdated October 6, 2026

Serving sizes

Apple Syrup changes rating with portion size. These are the amounts tested in the literature behind our ratings.

About 3g Low
Larger portions Moderate
Much larger portions High

Excess Fructose

Apple syrup is High FODMAP at a usual serving, though about 3g is low.

About 3g, a tiny drizzle, sits low.
Boiled down from apples, it is a concentrated source of Excess Fructose, so larger portions climb to moderate and much larger portions land high.

When you want sticky sweetness, a drizzle of pure maple syrup or a little table sugar does the job.

Why apple syrup is rated high

Apple syrup is high FODMAP, and the culprit is Excess Fructose. The syrup is apple juice boiled down until most of the water is gone, so the fruit sugar of a lot of apples ends up in a very small pour, and apples carry more fructose than the body absorbs easily. The low serve is tiny: about 3g is low, larger portions are moderate, and much larger portions are high. So apple syrup is low only as a trace, a thin streak rather than a drizzle, and an ordinary pour of a sweetener climbs past that quickly. Scraping the spoon a little less full is not a strategy that gets you there.

What changes your risk

Serving size The climb is steep and it starts early. About 3g is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so the useful decision with apple syrup is usually whether it goes in at all rather than how much.
Concentration Boiling apple juice down removes water and leaves everything else behind, which is exactly why a thin drizzle of syrup carries far more fructose than a bite of fresh apple would. Any product built the same way, such as apple juice concentrate used as a sweetener, behaves the same.
Stacking with other fructose sources Excess Fructose adds up across a meal. Apple syrup in a glaze alongside honey in the dressing, mango in the salad, or watermelon for dessert piles the same subgroup into one sitting, and the total is what your gut meets.
Cooking will not help Simmering the syrup into a glaze, baking it into a cake or reducing it further does not break fructose down. Heat leaves it exactly where it was, and reducing it further only concentrates it.
Hidden in the label Apple syrup is sold as a natural sweetener, so it turns up in barbecue sauces, marinades, granola, cereal bars and salad dressings. If a savoury product tastes fruity sweet, the ingredient list is worth a read before the jar goes in the basket.

Swaps

For the sticky, dark, caramel sweetness apple syrup brings to a glaze or a tray bake, pure maple syrup is the closest match and is low at a normal drizzle. Rice malt syrup gives the same thick pour with a milder flavour and works well in marinades and baking, and plain table sugar dissolved into a little water makes a simple syrup for brushing and basting. For a fruity note without the concentrated fructose, cook down strawberries or raspberries with a little table sugar. What will not rescue the situation is swapping to honey, agave syrup or high fructose corn syrup, since all three carry the same Excess Fructose problem, and neither will pear or watermelon in the same recipe.

How to lower the load

Treat apple syrup as an ingredient to leave out rather than one to measure carefully, because the low serve of about 3g is far smaller than any recipe calls for. When a recipe calls for it, replace the whole quantity with maple syrup or rice malt syrup rather than using a smaller amount of the apple version. Eating out, fruity glazes on pork, ribs and roast vegetables are the usual hiding place, so ask what the glaze is sweetened with and order the meat plain with a side of garlic-infused oil and herbs instead. At home, keep maple syrup in the spot where the apple syrup used to live so the reach for a sweetener is already solved, and check the label on granola, cereal bars and bottled marinades, where it tends to appear partway down the ingredient list.

Common questions

is apple syrup low fodmap

No. Apple syrup is high FODMAP overall. About 3g is low, but larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so an ordinary pour lands well above the low serve.

is apple syrup high in fructose

Yes. Excess Fructose is the subgroup behind its rating, because the syrup concentrates the fruit sugar of many apples into a small pour.

can i use apple syrup on the elimination phase

Only as a trace. About 3g is low, which is far less than a recipe or a drizzle uses, so it is easier to leave it out during elimination. Maple syrup, rice malt syrup or table sugar fill the same role without the fructose load.

what can i use instead of apple syrup in a glaze

Maple syrup is the closest match for that dark, sticky finish, with rice malt syrup as a milder alternative and a simple syrup made from table sugar for basting.

Learn more

Where this rating comes from

Apple Syrup is rated from published lab measurements of its FODMAP content, using the low, moderate and high cutoffs of Varney et al. (2017).

Feedback sent through the FODMAP Foods app has led to changes in this list.

See our full rating method →

Sources

Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns between healthy individuals and patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.