Gijsbers et al. conducted a double-blinded placebo-
controlled (DBPC) trial in children with recurrent abdom-
inal pain. First, 121 children performed a HBT with 2 g/kg
fructose (max. 50 g). From those children who were posi-
tive (65 %), 49 were set on a fructose elimination diet.
Sixty-five percent of them reported absence of symptoms
during the diet but only 13 out of 31 children (41 %)
responded to an open provocation with fructose. Finally, all
8 children which demonstrated symptoms after provoca-
tion, showed no symptoms after double-blinded placebo-
controlled re-provocation. In summary, none of the chil-
dren demonstrated positive hydrogen breath test together
with the absence of symptoms during elimination and
symptoms during the DBPC trial. An explanation why the
children showed positive hydrogen breath test after
fructose ingestion but no symptoms during DBPC with
fructose could be the different dose. During the breath
test, a maximum of 50 g fructose (2 g/kg) was given
whereas in the DBPC trial, 25 g was consumed over the whole day. However, factors such as the gut microbiota,
transit time and diet composition might also cause varying
fructose tolerance [23]. As mentioned above, 2 g/kg fruc-
tose cannot be completely absorbed in the majority of
children. Therefore, the dose is too high to discriminate
between fructose absorption and malabsorption. Since the
elimination and provocation was conducted at home, it is
possible that children did not strictly follow the elimin-
ation and provocation guidelines leading to inconsistent
results. Nevertheless, fructose malabsorption was most
likely not the prominent factor for abdominal pain in this
cohort.