Is Vlasic / Heinz Sweet Pickle Relish low FODMAP?

Mostly yes at a hot-dog-sized spoonful, but the sweetener is the whole story. Sweet pickle relish is essentially candied cucumber: Vlasic's label reads cucumbers, high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, and salt, with under 2% spice, xanthan gum, and preservatives; Heinz's version runs cucumbers, high fructose corn syrup, cabbage, distilled white vinegar, and salt. The cucumbers themselves are a genuinely low FODMAP base, and distilled vinegar is a non-issue. But HFCS sitting second on both labels means every spoonful delivers a meaningful dose of excess fructose — the kind a low FODMAP approach restricts, because the fructose outpaces the glucose that would help absorb it. The trace of cabbage in the Heinz jar is too small an amount to matter. Practical read: a level tablespoon on a hot dog or burger keeps the fructose dose small enough for most people; relish-forward recipes — tartar sauce, tuna salad, potato salad, thousand island dressing — routinely use three or four tablespoons and turn a garnish into a real load. Dill relish, which is brined rather than candied, sidesteps the sweetener question entirely and is the easy swap here.

📏 A level tablespoon on a hot dog is a fair bet; relish-heavy salads and sauces that use several tablespoons push the HFCS dose too high.