Top of the most fart-prompting vegetables

For people seeking to do their best to avoid any embarrassing expulsion of gas during Christmas lunch, Sainsbury’s supermarket has produced a handy table of the most fart-prompting vegetables.

The worst offender is the Jerusalem artichoke, beating, surprisingly, the much-condemned Brussels sprout, which came in third.

Second was the parsnip with cabbage in fourth and cauliflower in fifth.

A spokesman for Sainsbury’s, which has revealed its “top of the pops” league, said: “Winter is an amazing time for colourful, fibrous vegetables that are fantastically healthy, but which have predictable results in the human digestive system.

“Really it’s the very things that make them good for us – lots of fibre and complex carbohydrates – that are the culprits and it’s a small price to pay for the health benefits.

“Scoff your winter veg with abandon and blame the household pet, I say.”

Passing wind is caused by a reaction in the gut to the carbohydrate, fibre and sugars found in the vegetables to produce gas.

The Vegetarian Society has offered this advice for dealing with the possible side effects of winter veggies.

A spokesman said: “Eat more vegetables all year round so that they don’t cause such a shock to your system at this time of year.

“A possible cure for flatulence is to add dill or caraway seeds to vegetables such as cabbage when cooking, or if all else fails have a cup of peppermint tea after your meal.”