Erythritol is a natural sweetener sugar alternative made from fermented fructose found in some fruits. Erythritol is 70% as sweet as sugar. Because Erythritol is not very sweet, it is used in higher concentrations. According to The Mayo Clinic, these concentrations can be almost 1,000 times the levels naturally found.

Erythritol characterizes low caloric ability, excellent biologic tolerance, good thermo-stability, bad accessibility, low ice point. In food industry, erythritol, as substitute of cane sugar, is widely used in food manufacturing such as baking and roasting foods, cakes, dairy produce, chocolate, all kinds’ candies, dessert, gum, soft drink, ice-cream etc. which keeps foods good in color, sweet-smelling, sapor and prevent foods from deterioration.

According to Health Line, Erythritol does not spike blood sugar, has zero calories, and is fine to eat for most people in moderation.

Basic Information

Product Name: Erythritol

Appearance: White to Off-white Crystalline Powder

Molecular Formula: C4H10O4

CAS No.: 149-32-6

Benefits

These advantages of Erythritol also establish its status as the “Top-notch Sugar Substitute”:

• First of all, Erythritol has low energy: only 0.21kcal/g (5% of the calories of sucrose), which is significantly lower than other sugar alcohol sweeteners. According to the national food safety standard GB 28050-2011 Q&A, the energy coefficient of Erythritol is 0kJ/g, which is almost negligible heat. This has also become a major reason why many consumers who want to lose weight and control calorie intake choose Erythritol.

• Secondly, Erythritol has high sweetness: it has the highest sweetness among nutritional sweeteners, second only to xylitol and maltitol. The sweetness of Erythritol is equivalent to 60%-80% of the sweetness of the same amount of sucrose. It can create a mild cooling effect in the mouth without the metallic "aftertaste" of some synthetic sweeteners.

• Thirdly, Erythritol is easy to be absorbed and well tolerated by the human body. Erythritol is a small molecule substance with a molecular weight of only one-third that of sucrose. This means that it is easily absorbed by the small intestine and eliminated from the body through urine, with only a small part entering the large intestine for fermentation. Therefore, the human body tolerates it very well, much higher than other sugar substitutes such as xylitol. At the same time, this circulation path means that Erythritol does not participate in sugar metabolism and will not cause blood sugar to rise.

• Even more, Erythritol is beneficial to oral health. Because it cannot be used and transformed by bacteria in the oral cavity, it will not cause dental caries and is beneficial to the oral health of both children and adults. Many children's lollipops and children's candy use Erythritol as a source of sweetness.

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), National Health Commission (NHC), and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have conducted a comprehensive evaluation and confirmed the safety of Erythritol. Internationally, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), etc. have confirmed its safety, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) has classified Erythritol as Included as part of a healthy diet.

Some artificial sweeteners have been shown to have possible health effects, such as Saccharin and Aspartame. As the first generation sweetener, Saccharin was once popular. Its sweetness is 500 times that of sugar. It entered the stage of industrial production at the end of the 19th century and quickly entered thousands of households. But in 1997, saccharin was banned in Canada after research found it could cause bladder cancer in rats. Now, saccharin is also strictly limited to 14 kinds of food in my country and is not allowed to be added to baby food.

Among natural sugar substitutes, there are actually “higher and lower” ones. For example, xylitol is a natural sweetener extracted from plant raw materials such as birch, oak, corncob, and sugarcane bagasse. It is widely used in foods for people with diabetes and is a widely recognized natural sugar substitute.

However, the "production process" of xylitol still has some flaws: industrial acid hydrolysis is still mostly used, and it cannot be called completely "natural". In addition, although the calories and glycemic index of xylitol are low, they are not "zero", and excessive consumption is more likely to cause adverse reactions such as bloating and diarrhea, and the tolerance is low.

In comparison, Erythritol is also "natural and healthy" from a technological perspective. It is one of the few products among all sugar alcohols that is produced by microbial fermentation. From this perspective, Erythritol, which is more natural from ingredients to production, not only provides consumers with a new choice for sweetness, but may indeed be the best choice that most consumers can find in their daily lives.

In short, Erythritol is a natural sugar substitute with low calories and good safety. Consumers can safely buy food and beverages added with Erythritol to obtain healthy sweetness.