Several clients have asked me to suggest commercial salad dressings or marinades that might fit the requirements of the FODMAPS elimination diet. This is a tough one, because virtually every salad dressing on the shelf contains onions or garlic in some form, to say nothing of high fructose corn syrup, buttermilk, soy sauce or honey. Here are my thoughts:
- Dried, dehydrated, or powdered garlic or onions, usually used in smaller quantity than fresh, are allowed during the elimination phase.
- Hard cheeses such as parmesan and romano should be OK.
- Ingredients on any food label are listed in descending order, by
weight. So if we see dried, dehydrated, or powdered garlic or onions at
the very end of a list of ingredients in a dressing, that is probably
better than one with those ingredients listed closer to the beginning
of the list of ingredients. A dressing with a big pile of "chunks"
settled out on the bottom half of the bottle is probably a bad bet.
- Third, we know that foods with miniscule amounts of FODMAPS are allowed in small portions on the elimination phase (such as small servings of sour cream, cream cheese, or certain fruits).
I would go with one of the dressings that has all allowed ingredients except for a statement at the end along the lines of "contains 2% or less of the following ingredients: onion powder, garlic powder..."
Some of the Marie's Vinagrettes look promising. Their web page doesn't list ingredients, but there were a couple in the produce section of my local Hannaford that fit the bill. There must be others that fit the bill, but they are hard to find. Please email me your ideas!
Meanwhile, a simple oil and vineger sprinkled on salad continues to be the most straightforward solution. Try flavored vinegars, including balsamic, for variety, or sprinkle on a bit of salt, pepper, granulated sugar, fresh or dried herbs and enjoy!
