The Power of One

About 3 weeks ago, I saw some new GF 'Fructose Friendly' products in the freezer section of my supermarket. Yippee! I thought ~ perhaps something new to try. My diet is quite restrictive; and while I don't eat pre-packaged foods very much at all, it's nice to have some choices. The first package I looked at had garlic (fructose) and onion (fructans) listed in the ingredients!! The next thing I noticed was chickpea (galactan). Hello??? 'Fructose Friendly'? I don't think so. It seems like the 'Fructose Friendly' tag is going to be the next big thing. Let's all jump on the bandwagon and make some money. I felt really angry about this misleading advertising. I ALWAYS read labels - been caught out too many times - but what about people who may not be as vigilant? So, I contacted Syndian Natural Food Products by email to lodge my protest in writing. To my surprise - and their credit - I received a delayed reply from the Director. I have included it (as written) in this post, but witheld the writer's name to protect the identity. I think there's a bit of buck passing going on, but you be the judge of that. They say they will remove the 'Fructose Friendly' labelling - I really hope they do!
Thank you for your recent enquiry. My apology for the delay, I just got back from an overseas trip.
We were made aware of similar concerns recently by a correspondence and since then we are trying to find out more about this issue through a variety of sources including CSRIO Australia, Australian Dietician Council and Sue Sheppard as well as continuous trial to find some literature regarding this issue.
We are gradually becoming aware of the changing knowledge and definitions regarding Fructose mal-absorption. When we initially claimed “fructose Friendly” on the packaging, at that stage onion was the main concern that we were aware of, for that reason non of the products that carry “Fructose Friendly” contains onion (including the Curried Pumpkin Bites).
Unfortunately we are finding that little is known yet about this issue and the knowledge is not broad base, I am sure with time more will be known but for the present time we were unable to find a clear body of knowledge that we can be guided by.
Having said that, out of concern for customers well being and despite the fact that we are claiming “fructose Friendly” and not “Fructose Free”, we decided to remove the claim “ Fructose Friendly” of these products, once there is enough knowledge we will be able to make a better judgment then to what is Fructose friendly and what is not.
As we asked every one we came in contact with regarding this issue, if you have any sources or literature eg, articles, research papers or reading material, it would be appreciated if you can direct us to.
Please feel free to contact me if you have further queries or comments.
Regards ...

Fermentation of fructans in sourdough bread???

I have it on good authority ~ from other FructMal sufferers ~ that the fermentation process used to make sourdough breads changes the fructans in flour and makes the bread safe to eat. I did read the reasoning behind this, but can remember what it was .. doh!So today I bought some very nice 100% sourdough bread and ate 2 slices of it for lunch. The bread is made by RedBeard Historic Bakery and it has no added nasties. I'll know soon enough if the info about sourdough is correct! Oh well, the weekend is coming so I can easily set up a camp bed in the bathroom/toilet area. I also bought some Asafoetida to use as a flavour additive. It's supposed to be OK for us FMs to use, but just in the few minutes it's been sitting beside the 'puter, it's caused me to feel nauseous. I have learned to trust my nose implicitly, so this yellow Indian flavouring powder is going in the bin. I have no desire to try it anymore. It really sounds too much like "foetid" for my liking. Foetid means offensively malodorous - which is exactly how this horrible stuff smells to me! Having said that, I know that other FM sufferers really enjoy using it - it's just not for me.