Couscous
Rating: high FODMAP · Trigger subgroup: Fructans
At a 14 g portion: green light
Lights per subgroup
- Fructans 0.29 g · green light
- GOS 0.01 g · green light
- Excess fructose 0 g · green light
- Lactose 0 g · green light
- Sorbitol 0 g · green light
- Mannitol 0 g · green light
fructans and GOS are evaluated together (oligosaccharide sum) · sorbitol and mannitol are evaluated individually and combined — the worse result wins
Green boundaries come from the scientific sources; the amber (1–2× the cutoff) and red (>2×) bands are an app estimate.
Sources and confidence
- Method:
- subgroup grams from peer-reviewed literature
- Rating confidence:
- medium (confidence below high — lights are drawn hatched)
- Assessed:
- 2026-08-23
- Portion thresholds:
- varney-2017.v1
Sources
- doi:10.3390/molecules29020282 — couscous fructan 2.04 g/100g DRY MASS — highest of the cooked-grains panel; B2011 corroborates: couscous 1.12 g/portion as-eaten ≈ 2.00 g/100g on a ~56 g basis per Liljebo suppl. Table 3; basis remains effectively dry — cooked fresh-weight is lower, dietitian to confirm basis before portion copy
- doi:10.1111/j.1365-277X.2010.01139.x — B2011 abstract: 'Total fructan ... ranged (g per portion as eaten) from 1.12 g in couscous to 0 g in rice'
- gos 0.1 = ESTIMATE (confidence low) — B2011 grain GOS class 0.1–0.4% dw (open Front Microbiol reproduction doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01972), no open couscous GOS cell; pending dietitian review
- sorbitol/mannitol 0.0: B2011 grains carry polyols only 'in traces' (same reproduction)
- USDA FDC 169700
Hollow circle = no data (unknown). Hatched = medium/low confidence. Solid = high confidence.
Test your tolerance in the protocol
Fodo walks you through a Fructans tolerance test — and the rest of the 3-phase FODMAP protocol.