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cream of tartar
Additives & Leavening
Trigger checker for cream of tartar
See cream of tartar rated across every trigger — FODMAP, histamine, salicylate, oxalate, tyramine and more — plus diet compatibility, all in one quick ingredient profile.
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Compare cream of tartar across criteria
Sensitivities
What cream of tartar contains
FODMAPs
Histamine & Amines
Plant compounds
Irritants
Additives
Allergens
Diet fit
Where cream of tartar fits
Therapeutic diets
Lifestyle diets
Religious diets
What to know about cream of tartar
Cream of tartar is potassium bitartrate, the crystal that precipitates out of wine barrels and gets purified into a white powder. It is one of the cleanest ingredients in a baking cupboard on every trigger we track: no gluten, no lactose or dairy protein despite the name, no FODMAPs, no histamine, no salicylates, no sulfites, no nickel. The one number that is genuinely worth knowing is potassium. At roughly 20 percent potassium by weight it delivers about 495 mg per teaspoon, more than a banana, from a spoon of white powder that reads as inert.
Watch for
- Extremely potassium dense: around 495 mg in a level teaspoon.Irrelevant when a quarter teaspoon is split across twenty-four cookies, and not irrelevant at all if you are on a potassium-restricted renal diet, a potassium-sparing diuretic or an ACE inhibitor
- There are published cases of life-threatening hyperkalemia after people deliberately swallowed large quantities as a home cleanse, presenting with vomiting and peaked T waves on ECG.Baking amounts are not the issue, spoonfuls-in-water internet remedies are
- It comes from winemaking but rates clean on sulfites: the finished powder is purified potassium bitartrate, not wine, so a sulfite or wine reaction should not carry across
- Rated only neutral on the anti-inflammatory axis, which is a refined-additive note rather than a sensitivity trigger.It is not doing you any good, it is just not doing anything
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FAQ
What does the FODMAP rating mean for cream of tartar?
Low FODMAP: usually easier for most people, still watch portion size.
Is cream of tartar generally well tolerated?
Histamine (Safe) and Histamine Liberators (Safe) Start with those if you react.
What should I check next?
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