Dinner
Maple Soy Glazed Salmon
25 minEasy
Maple Syrup (Pure)
Sweeteners · Syrups
TLDRLast updated 3 September 2026
Pure maple syrup is the swap that costs you nothing. At the tested serve of 2 tablespoons, every FODMAP group reads zero, and 2 tablespoons is a generous pour by any standard. It is sucrose-dominant rather than fructose-dominant, which is the whole difference between it and honey, rated red at a single teaspoon.
Last updated 3 September 2026Serving sizes for maple syrup (pure)
The tested serve is 2 tablespoons, rated green, with no FODMAP group detected.
2 tablespoonsabout 30 ml
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tablespoons | 2 tbsp | None detected |
Breakdown for 2 tablespoons
0gFructose
0gLactose
0gFructans
0gGOS
0gSorbitol
0gMannitol
2 tablespoonsabout 30 ml
Is maple syrup (pure) low FODMAP?
Sugar becomes a FODMAP problem only when fructose outruns the glucose beside it, since glucose is what gives fructose a way across the gut wall. Maple syrup is mostly sucrose, and sucrose breaks into one glucose for every fructose, leaving no surplus behind to travel on and ferment. That is why the tested pour records zero for excess fructose, fructans, GOS, lactose, sorbitol and mannitol alike. A teaspoon of honey carries 2 g of excess fructose by contrast, over ten times the 0.15 g line for a high rating, from a much smaller spoon.
Maple Syrup (Pure) and IBS: what to know
The trap is the bottle sitting next to it on the shelf. Table syrup, pancake syrup and anything sold as maple-flavoured is usually built on corn syrup, and pancake syrup is rated red in the guide, so the word maple on a label is not what earned the green rating. Buy the one with a single ingredient. Grade and colour, from golden through to very dark, reflect when in the season the sap was collected rather than the sugar profile, so the darkest bottle is no riskier than the palest. Sweetness and FODMAP load are separate questions.
Gut-friendly ways to eat maple syrup (pure)
Use maple syrup wherever honey used to go: over porridge and pancakes, whisked into a dressing with mustard and lemon, brushed onto roast carrots or salmon, stirred through yoghurt. In baking it browns faster than sugar and adds liquid, which suits loaf cakes and granola better than fine biscuits. Rice malt syrup is the other green option and is milder if maple flavour would fight the dish. What it will not do is stand in for agave as a health choice, because agave is rated red and maple earns its rating on chemistry rather than marketing.
Recipes with maple syrup (pure)
Frequently asked questions
Is maple syrup low FODMAP?
Yes. Pure maple syrup is rated green at the tested serve of 2 tablespoons, with no FODMAP group registering at all, which makes it one of the easier ingredients to keep during elimination. The word pure matters, though: maple-flavoured syrups are a different product with a different rating, so check that the bottle lists one ingredient.
Is maple syrup better than honey for IBS?
On FODMAP content, clearly. Honey is rated red at one teaspoon because it is fructose-dominant, while maple syrup is rated green at 2 tablespoons because it is not. They behave similarly in a bowl of porridge or a marinade, so the swap rarely costs you anything beyond a slightly different flavour.
How much maple syrup can I have at once?
Our data has one tested point, 2 tablespoons, and it is rated green. There is no larger serve tested, so we cannot tell you what four tablespoons does, though nothing in the smaller pour suggests a FODMAP group waiting to appear. It is still concentrated sugar, and large amounts of any sugar can loosen things up on their own.
Which other sweeteners are low FODMAP?
White sugar is rated green, and so are brown sugar, caster sugar, golden syrup, rice malt syrup, glucose, stevia and monk fruit. The ones to avoid are the fructose-dominant syrups, including honey, agave and high fructose corn syrup, and the polyol sweeteners such as sorbitol, xylitol and maltitol, which are rated red in the guide.
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