Clementine

Why clementine is rated low

Yes, clementine is low FODMAP. The rating is estimated from what the fruit is made of rather than from a measured serving, and its ladder has a single rung: "Any typical portion" comes in LOW. No problem subgroup is recorded for clementine, which is why the peeled fruit works so well as an easy snack, even during the elimination phase. Low is still an answer about one serving, though. The rating covers a typical portion of the fresh fruit, not an afternoon spent working through the whole bag, and it does not carry over to the juice, dried or candied forms.

What changes your risk

• Serving size The low rating applies to "Any typical portion". Eating your way steadily through a net of clementines in one sitting goes well beyond what that rating describes, and larger amounts are not covered here.
• Stacking with other fruit A low rating is per serving, not per meal. Clementine segments in a fruit salad with oranges, kiwi, pineapple and grapes, or several fruits blended into one smoothie, add up to a bigger total FODMAP load than any one of them alone. Spreading fruit across the day keeps each sitting lighter.
• Juicing A glass of clementine or mandarin juice holds the sugars of several fruits and leaves the fibre behind, so it is not the same thing as eating the segments, and the fresh fruit's rating does not transfer to it.
• Drying and candying Dried clementine slices and candied citrus peel have lost their water, which concentrates everything left behind, so they do not inherit the low rating of the fresh fruit.
• Fruit cups and tinned segments Citrus segments packed in syrup made with high fructose corn syrup bring in a FODMAP the fresh fruit does not have. Check the label, or stick to the fresh fruit.

What else works

Mandarins and oranges are the closest low FODMAP relatives and fill exactly the same peel-and-eat role, while strawberries, kiwi, grapes and pineapple are other easy fruit snacks that sit comfortably in a lunchbox. The lookalikes to be wary of are the processed forms: clementine or mandarin juice, dried or candied citrus, and fruit cups in high fructose corn syrup. Other grab-and-go fruit that often sits in the same bowl, such as apple, pear and mango, is not low FODMAP and is not a like-for-like swap.

How to keep it low

Clementines last longer in the fridge crisper than on the counter, so keep the bulk of a bag chilled and leave out only what you plan to eat that day. Treat a typical portion as the unit: peel what you mean to eat, then put the rest away, rather than snacking from the net. When segments go into a salad, the dressing is where the trouble usually hides, so make it with garlic-infused oil and chives instead of crushed garlic or shallot. For a packed lunch, take the whole fruit rather than a bottled clementine juice.

Common questions

are clementines low fodmap

Yes. Clementine is rated low FODMAP at "Any typical portion", a rating estimated from what the fruit is made of rather than a measured serving.

is clementine juice low fodmap

The juice is a different food from the fresh fruit. Juicing packs the sugars of several clementines into one glass and leaves the fibre behind, so the whole fruit's low rating does not carry over to it.

can you eat clementines on the elimination phase

Yes, at "Any typical portion" clementine is low. Keep in mind that a low rating is per serving, so piling several fruits into the same snack or smoothie raises the total load of that sitting.

clementine or mandarin which is better for fodmap

Both are low FODMAP options for a peel-and-eat citrus snack. Pick whichever you prefer, and keep it to a typical portion rather than eating the whole bag at once.