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Sugar substitutes and sweeteners replace sugar in many products. We explain the differences between the two terms and which substances are behind them.

Sugar substitutes – relatives of sugar

While table sugar (sucrose) contains 400 calories per 100 grams, most sugar substitutes only have 240 calories. However, most of them also have a lower sweetening power than sugar.
Particularly important for diabetics: sugar substitutes are metabolized independently of insulin – they only allow the blood sugar level to rise minimally.
Sugar causes tooth decay, it has a cariogenic effect. Sugar substitutes have little to no such effect.
As the name suggests, sugar substitutes can replace sugar in most products. Although they may have to be dosed higher, they otherwise behave very similarly.

Both sugar and sugar substitutes occur naturally in many plants. In the human body, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol are part of carbohydrate metabolism.

From erythritol to xylitol: Approved sugar substitutes

According to the consumer advice center, eight sugar substitutes are currently approved in the EU:
Xylitol (E 967): Also known as birch sugar, it is the only sugar substitute that has the same sweetening power as sugar and is effective against tooth decay.
Erythritol (E 968): The only sugar alcohol that has no calories.
Sorbitol (E 420): Often used as a humectant and bulking agent.
Mannitol (E 421)
Isomalt (E 953)
Lactitol (E 966)
Maltitol (E 965)
Polyglycitol syrup (E 964)
Note: Since 2014, according to the consumer advice center, products with sugar substitutes no longer have to state whether they are sugar substitutes or sweeteners. The indication “sweetener” is sufficient. However, the list of ingredients must contain the name or the E number of the substance used.

Why might it be interesting to know what kind of sugar substitute it is? Chemically speaking, sweeteners are very different from sugar substitutes.

Sweeteners: No carbs, but sweet

Unlike sugar substitutes, sweeteners are not closely related to sugar. The group of sweeteners includes very different and chemically complex substances. They have in common that they contain hardly any calories and, above all, have a much greater sweetening power than sugar. Stevia, for example, is 300 times sweeter than table sugar. That’s why, unlike sugar substitutes, you can’t just use sweeteners as sugar substitutes in baking.

Sugar substitutes: harmless to health?

According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), sugar substitutes may be used in food indefinitely. The EU does not have an “acceptable daily intake” (ADI) – i.e. no limit value for a tolerable maximum for the daily intake.

The only caveat: Sugar substitutes can cause bloating, diarrhea, and stomach pain because they’re difficult to digest. For this reason, products containing more than ten percent of a sugar substitute must bear the following notice: “Excessive consumption can have a laxative effect”. According to the Deutsche Apothekerzeitung, erythritol and xylitol are the most tolerable.

Otherwise, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considers sugar substitutes to be harmless. In the EU, the institution is responsible, among other things, for checking the approval of additives. Since many ratings are very old (many date back to the 1980s), a new rating process is currently underway. By 2020, the sugar substitutes should also have been re-examined.

Sweeteners: Probably harmless, but only in moderation

There is an ADI (acceptable daily intake) for sweeteners. According to the BfR, scientists determine this in animal experiments: the animals are given enough of a sweetener until their body reacts to it. This dose is usually divided by 100 (a so-called “safety factor”) – this is then the ADI. This value is checked regularly, for example it was reduced for cyclamate in the early 2000s. The last sweetener reviewed by EFSA in 2013 is aspartame.

As the Deutsche Apothekerzeitung reports, high doses of sweeteners in animal experiments sometimes lead to complaints ranging from allergies to cancer. However, there is no evidence that these hazards in the context of ADI also exist in humans.

The EFSA and the BfR consider all sweeteners to be harmless in the specified daily maximum amounts. As already mentioned, however, the last reviews were a few years ago. For example, a year after the last assessment of aspartame, scientists found that the substance can cause changes in the intestinal flora. These in turn cause the blood sugar level to rise – apparently not only in animals but also in humans. Over time, this can lead to diabetes. So are sweeteners like aspartame not that safe after all? In order to clarify the question unequivocally, more meaningful studies are needed.

Important: In any case, according to the BfR, aspartame and aspartame-acesulfame salt are toxic for people suffering from the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria. The phenylalanine in aspartame is problematic. Therefore, products with aspartame must be labeled “contains a source of phenylalanine”.

How recommended are sugar substitutes and sweeteners?

Sugar substitutes are harmless to health, and so are sweeteners in moderation. But are they really recommended as a sugar substitute? According to the DAZ, scientists repeatedly discuss the question of whether sugar substitutes and sweeteners have an appetizing effect or reduce satiety. So far there is no clear answer.

Eating sugar substitutes doesn’t necessarily mean you’re consuming fewer calories. While their calorie density is lower than sugar, you’ll need to use more to get the same sweetening power. Exceptions are xylitol (same sweetening power) and erythritol (no calories).

Another problem is that people tend to eat more of something that doesn’t have sugar in it. Sugar-free foods are considered healthier, so you can theoretically eat more of them. But then you also quickly consume more calories. Sugar substitutes are therefore not ideal for losing weight.

One thing is clear: If you want to lead a life without sugar, neither sugar substitutes nor sweeteners can train you to lose your sweet tooth. You are more likely to achieve this with a permanent change in diet, in which you primarily use the natural sweetening power of fruit and vegetables.

Food

Lactitol (E966): What You Need to Know About The Sugar Substitute

Lactit is the sugar-free partner of lactose. We explain the properties of the sugar substitute lactitol and where it is used.

Lactitol is one of the sugar substitutes. They are also called sugar alcohols because, from a chemical point of view, they are the alcohols of single and double sugars. The name of lactitol says it all: It is the alcohol of lactose (milk sugar). From this, lactitol can be obtained through a chemical reaction.

Important: Depending on the method of production, lactitol is not always vegan. Lactitol, which is made from animal milk sugar, is not vegan.

use

sugar-reduced candy and chewing gum
dietary supplements
mustard and sauces
toothpaste
sweetener tablets
Tip: In lists of ingredients you can find lactitol under its name or its E number E 966.

Health effects of lactitol

As already mentioned, there is no restriction of lactitol in food. According to the BfR, the EU’s “Scientific Committee on Food” decided in 1988 that lactitol is harmless to health. A re-evaluation is pending.

However, the institution has pointed out that above a certain amount, lactitol can cause diarrhea and other digestive problems. Products that contain more than ten percent lactitol must therefore state that excessive consumption can have a laxative effect. This also applies to all sugar substitutes. According to the BfR, most people can tolerate up to 20 grams of lactitol per day. On the other hand, smaller amounts of lactitol (about ten grams per day) are said to be good for digestion. This is what the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reports.

People with sorbitol intolerance often tolerate lactitol less well. It is also disputed how well people with lactose intolerance tolerate lactitol. According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, lactitol does not have to be labeled as an allergen. On the other hand, a study in Thailand found that people who cannot tolerate lactose are also more likely to react to lactitol. However, the number of test participants was relatively small at 39 people.

Food

Palm Sugar: How Good is The Sugar Substitute?

Palm sugar is extremely popular as a sugar substitute. But how healthy is plant sugar really – and what about its sustainability?

Palm sugar (also traditionally called “jagre”) is a type of sugar extracted from the sap of various types of palm trees. Sugar has a long tradition in Asia – but you can now buy it from us.

Palm sugar tastes less sweet than regular sugar and has a slight caramel flavor. It has one thing in common with conventional types of sugar such as cane sugar and beet sugar: its main component is sucrose.

Production of palm sugar

Palm sugar is based on the blossoms of the atta palm, sugar palm or date palm. A viscous juice can be extracted from the cut flowers, which is then boiled and crystallized into a syrup. The sugar crystals are then ground and packaged as caster sugar.

A special form of palm sugar is coconut blossom sugar. For this variant, the manufacturers only use the juice of the coconut palm.

Is palm sugar really healthier than regular sugar?

Some manufacturers of palm sugar advertise that the plant-based sweetener is healthier than conventional types of sugar. However, when researching this article, we could not find any scientific studies that support this. Even if palm sugar is no more harmful to your body than conventional sugar – the exotic sweetness is not much healthier. Sugar is just sugar.

Only when it comes to the glycemic index (GI) does palm sugar perform better than table sugar. The GI for palm sugar is 35, for table sugar it is around 68. This means that the blood sugar rises less with palm sugar. Foods with a low GI also tend to keep you full longer. Foods with a high GI, on the other hand, are said to increase cholesterol levels in the long term.

Its glycemic index initially sounds like a clear advantage for palm sugar. Local honey, which is ultimately more sustainable and cheaper, also has similarly low GI values.

Food

Rock Candy: Apecial Features and Differences to Normal Sugar

Rock candy is particularly popular with tea drinkers. No wonder – the sugar crystals are perfect for sweetening drinks. But how is rock candy made and what distinguishes it from conventional sugar?

Rock Candy: How it’s made

Rock candy originally came from Persia and India, but today many companies in Europe also produce it. The name Kandis derives from the Arabic word for cane sugar (“quand”). Put simply, candy consists of nothing more than large sugar crystals. In order for these crystals to grow, a highly concentrated cane-based sugar solution is heated in large containers.

Threads stretched in the container prevent the crystallizing sugar from sinking. In addition, the sugar solution is constantly in motion. Only in this way can it flow around the crystals on the threads, which are getting bigger and bigger. It can take up to three weeks for the crystals to reach a size of 18 to 24 millimeters.

For brown rock candy, a cane molasses is added to the sugar solution. The crystals are then heated – the molasses now causes the crystals to caramelize. At the same time, the taste of the sugar changes. In addition, the brown rock candy is often colored with caramel colour.

There are these kinds of rock candy

You can get candy in the store in different colors and shapes. Depending on the production method, it is available in brown or white, for example. Like brown sugar, brown rock candy contains a higher proportion of molasses than white sugars.

Depending on what you want to use the rock candy for, there are different shapes:

Cube rock candy: Cube rock candy are large, individually grown, small crystals that dissolve very slowly in liquid. For example, you can sweeten your tea with the crystals, and you can even use the cubes for several cups. East Frisian tea, for example, is traditionally refined with candy cubes.
Crusty candy: For the irregular pieces of this type of candy, candy slabs that have grown flat are broken up and the broken pieces are sieved off. You can also refine tea with crust candy. The candy tastes particularly delicious in homemade apple punch.
Crumbly candy: For crumbly candy, the white or brown sugar crystals are ground very finely. You can also bake well in this form with candy sugar.

This is what separates rock candy from regular sugar

Unlike normal, fine sugar, rock candy consists of coarser sugar crystals that are only lightly ground in some forms. In addition, brown candy sugar types contain a higher proportion of molasses than white sugar. This is why rock candy tastes more like caramel and gives drinks and pastries a special touch.

However, the coarse sugar crystals are not healthier than normal sugar. Both are double sugars, contain around 400 calories per 100 grams and can damage your teeth in large quantities. The highly concentrated sugar solution required for rock candy is made from the raw juice of the sugar cane, which is additionally filtered and concentrated. Because the candy crystals also take a long time to crystallize completely, the production of this type of sugar is quite energy-intensive. This is also the production of white cane sugar: Here the sugar crystals are dissolved and crystallized again and again.

Tip: Whether you buy rock candy or regular sugar, always make sure that the sugar is organic and unrefined. If you would rather avoid sugar altogether, you can also use various sugar alternatives.

Food

Maple Syrup: How Healthy is the Sugar Substitute?

What would American pancakes be without maple syrup?

How is maple syrup made?

Maple syrup is a popular sugar alternative that is essential as a topping for pancakes, especially in North America. The popular syrup originally comes from Canada, where it is particularly valued as a cultural asset.

Maple syrup is the sweet sap of the maple tree. It is boiled down to make it durable. Typically, maple syrup has about 60 percent sugar content, so it has about a third fewer calories than pure sugar for the same amount.

Based on its color and aroma, maple syrup can be divided into different quality levels ranging from AA to D. Syrup of the best quality level AA has a very light color and a pleasantly mild aroma. The poorer the quality, the darker the color and the stronger the aroma.

The high quality levels are particularly suitable for raw consumption, for example as a topping for pancakes or fruit. The cheaper variants, on the other hand, can be used well for baking or as a sweetener for sauces.

Is Maple Syrup Really Healthy?

Unlike refined white sugar, maple syrup also contains vitamins and minerals. Maple syrup is particularly rich in zinc and manganese. In addition, Canadian scientists found 24 different antioxidants in maple syrup in a study. Antioxidants protect our body from free radicals from the environment and can thus prevent the development of civilization diseases. Thus, maple syrup is healthier than regular white sugar.

However, you should note that maple syrup is still a sugar. You should therefore always enjoy it in moderation. Excessive sugar consumption promotes the development of:
overweight and obesity
diabetes
cardiovascular diseases
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that you should consume no more than six teaspoons of sugar per day.

How sustainable is maple syrup?

Almost all of the maple syrup produced worldwide comes from the Canadian province of Québec. The syrup therefore usually has a long transport route behind it before it reaches our supermarket. You should therefore only use maple syrup if you absolutely need it for a dish because of its aroma.

If you only want to use the syrup as a sweetener anyway, it is better to use a more sustainable alternative such as honey or sugar beet syrup. Unlike agave syrup, rice syrup and maple syrup, these can be produced locally.

Food

Cinnamon Sugar: That’s The Right Ratio

Cinnamon sugar tastes delicious on many desserts. You only need the two ingredients cinnamon and sugar – and in the right proportion. We explain how you can mix cinnamon sugar.

In most households, rice pudding and semolina pudding are never served without cinnamon sugar. But the right cinnamon-sugar mixture also goes well with yeast dumplings and other sweets and desserts.

Cinnamon sugar can be bought premixed in the supermarket. These not only come with additional packaging, but sometimes also contain other unnecessary ingredients such as flavors. That’s why we recommend that you simply make your own cinnamon sugar. So in the end there is really only cinnamon and sugar in the mixture – and you can adjust the ratio to suit your taste.

Mixing Cinnamon Sugar: The Right Ratio

Ultimately, of course, it comes down to individual taste as to the ratio of cinnamon and sugar that goes best together. However, a standard mixture has been established that tastes good to most people and can serve as a rule of thumb. According to this, the perfect cinnamon sugar is mixed in this ratio:
10 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Variations: Some find this blend too sweet. In this case, you can halve the amount of sugar. In the low-sugar kitchen you can also mix cinnamon and sugar in a ratio of 1:1 – this will then have a much more intense taste.

Cinnamon sugar: which sugar and which cinnamon?

Sure, cinnamon sugar only needs two ingredients: cinnamon and sugar. But nevertheless, or precisely because of this, the quality of these is crucial:
You can use either white or brown sugar.
Beet sugar, cane sugar and raw cane sugar: In our special article on the subject, we explain the differences and tell you what is important when it comes to sugar.
Alternatively, you can use a sugar substitute for the cinnamon sugar mixture. Above all, birch sugar (xylitol) and erythritol are recommended for this, as they behave in a similar way to ordinary sugar. Both sugar alternatives are suitable for diabetics.
When it comes to cinnamon, it mainly depends on the variety: Cassia cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon is significantly cheaper, but contains more coumarin – a substance that can be harmful to health in larger quantities. If you frequently use cinnamon sugar, it is better to use Ceylon cinnamon.

Food

Panela: This is What You Should Know About The Sugar Alternative

Panela – Healthy, Nutritious Sugar Alternative or Unfounded Hype? Here you can find out everything you need to know about the sweetener from Latin America.

What is Panela?

Panela is a caramel-colored sugar mass that is an everyday staple in the sugar cane-growing regions of Central and South America. In these regions it is also known as panocha, raspadura, piloncillo, tapa dulce or chancaca. Similar sugar products are also widely available in Asian and African countries, such as gur in India, gula melaka in Malaysia and kokuto in Japan.

Latin American panela is made from sugar cane juice, which is boiled in copper kettles at high temperatures to form a viscous molasses. This then hardens at cooler temperatures and is then cut into smaller portions.

The difference to the white granulated sugar that is common in Europe is that the vitamins and minerals are retained in Panela because it is not refined. In contrast, conventional industrial sugar from sugar beets is deprived of all its nutrients by a centrifugal processing method. That’s why panela has a reputation for being healthier than granulated sugar.

Panela vs. Industrial Sugar: Is Panela Healthy?

It is now widely known that sugar is not exactly healthy. Normal industrial sugar is suspected of drastically increasing the risk of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, liver and kidney damage and cancer. Panela, on the other hand, is now being hailed as a healthy alternative. But is the sweetener from Latin America really that much healthier?

It is true that panela contains more nutrients than regular sugar. The sugar alternative contains, for example, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and calcium as well as vitamin B6 – but only in small amounts. In order to get enough nutrients from eating panela, you would have to eat a lot of it.

Panela is also said to support healthy digestion. However, there are no scientific studies to prove this.

Bottom Line: Panela is a bit healthier than industrial sugar as it contains some vitamins and minerals. Compared to other foods such as vegetables or legumes, however, the nutrient content is negligible. Other health-promoting effects of the sugar alternative have not been proven. Ultimately, panela is still mostly sugar and should only be consumed in moderation.

What you can use Panela for

Since panela has a similar consistency to regular sugar and one gram of panela is exactly one gram of sugar, you can use it in baking or cooking just like white sugar. The taste of Panela has a fruity-caramel note. Panela is therefore particularly suitable for baking cakes and biscuits and for preparing desserts.

Panela: What you should consider

When buying, you should definitely pay attention to organic quality for two reasons: On the one hand, you support the ecologically sustainable cultivation of sugar cane and do something good for the environment. On the other hand, you can be sure that the farmers have produced the Panela under fair working conditions.

Food

Sugar Loaf Lettuce: Growing and Using the Winter Lettuce

Sugarloaf lettuce also provides you with valuable nutrients regionally in winter. In this article you will learn how to grow the lettuce variety in your garden and how to use sugar loaf lettuce in the kitchen.

Like radicchio and chicory, sugar loaf salad belongs to the chicory salads. They all come from the wild chicory and are therefore particularly robust.

Sugarloaf lettuce is particularly suitable as an autumn and winter salad, as it can also cope well with low temperatures down to minus seven degrees – even if the lettuce originally comes from Italy.

The Sugar Loaf owes its name to the large oval heads. They reach a size of up to 45 centimeters and can weigh up to two kilograms. Because of the firm, fleshy leaves, it is also called meat herb.

In this article you will learn how to grow sugar loaf and how to use it in the kitchen.

Growing sugar loaf lettuce in the garden

The sugar loaf is an annual lettuce and belongs to the daisy family. The winter lettuce is robust and easy to care for. You should consider the following tips so that the lettuce also thrives in your garden:

Location:

Sugar Loaf prefers a sunny to partially shaded place.
The salad thrives particularly well after peas or spinach.
Change the bed for sugar loaf lettuce every year and make sure not to plant other composite plants such as salsify, marigolds or artichokes until after three years.
Floor:

The sugar loaf prefers humus-rich, loose and moist soil.
Loosen the soil well and clear it of weeds and large stones before planting the lettuce.
Enrich the soil with some mature compost so that the lettuce is well supplied with nutrients.
mixed culture:

Good neighbors for sugar loaf salad are carrots, tomatoes and fennel.
A mixed culture with potatoes, on the other hand, is not suitable.
Sowing:

The right time to plant sugar loaf is late June to early July – for both seed and seedlings. The advantage of pre-grown plants is that you can start harvesting as early as August.
Place 2-3 seeds in the soil 30 centimeters apart and cover them with about 2 centimeters of soil. Sugarloaf develops firm so-called taproots and is therefore difficult to prick out. Therefore, you should isolate the young plants as soon as possible after they start to germinate.
Also keep a distance of 30 to 45 centimeters between the plants in the rows.
When planting seedlings, be careful not to plant the young plants too deep.
Provide the young lettuce plants with enough water so that they grow well.

Caring for and harvesting sugar loaf lettuce

Sugarloaf lettuce is frugal, robust and not very susceptible to pests. Nevertheless, there are some points that you should consider when caring for and harvesting:

Care:

Make sure that the lettuce is supplied with sufficient water, especially in the summer months.
Loosen the soil regularly and remove weeds.
If you enriched the soil with compost to begin with, you won’t need to fertilize the lettuce until harvest. If you did not fertilize the soil at the beginning, you can enrich the soil later with organic fertilizer such as nettle manure.
If necessary, you can protect the lettuce from pests with a fine net.
At low temperatures, you should also protect the lettuce with a layer of leaves or straw. Make sure the leaves are dry to prevent mold from forming.
Harvest:

After eight to twelve weeks you can harvest the sugar loaf lettuce. The later you harvest the lettuce, the milder it will taste. It is best to wait until after the first frost to harvest.
You can use a knife to cut off the heads just above the ground. Alternatively, you can harvest the lettuce with its roots to keep it fresh longer.
Sugarloaf lettuce is best stored in a cool, dark place.

Sugar Loaf Lettuce: Use in the kitchen

The wintry sugar loaf salad provides you with valuable nutrients and vitamins even in winter – and all regionally without long transport routes. It contains, among other things:

beta-carotene
B vitamins
vitamin C
potassium
You can prepare sugar loaf in the classic way as a salad or steam it with other winter vegetables.

The outer green leaves are usually very bitter, which is why the inner, light part of the lettuce is mainly prepared. However, the bitter substances it contains are very healthy. That’s why you should also use the green leaves of the sugar loaf lettuce. You can mitigate the bitter taste with the following tips:

Make salads with sweet fruits like apples, grapes, or pears. This harmonises the nutty taste of the salad and balances out the bitter note.
A dressing of vinegar and sugar neutralizes the bitter taste.
Briefly boil the lettuce in a little salted water or soak the cut lettuce in lukewarm water for five minutes. However, valuable vitamins are also lost, which is why we do not recommend this method.

Food

Is Sugar Vegan? You Have to Know That

It actually seems clear that sugar is vegan – it is obtained from plants such as sugar beet or sugar cane. In some cases, however, sugar is refined with animal substances. We explain when sugar is vegan – and when not.

Sugar is often hidden in processed foods in particular. But the sweetener is also often used in your own kitchen, when baking or for coffee or tea. Even vegans do not do without sugar, since the food itself is purely vegetable. A closer look reveals, however, that this is not always entirely true. In some cases, animal substances are used in production.

Sugar is vegan – but not always

Sugar is usually obtained from sugar beets or sugar cane and is therefore a plant-based food. Animal charcoal is sometimes used to make refined sugar.

Refined sugar is a particularly white, pure sugar that is almost 100 percent sugar and contains no trace elements or by-products. In order to obtain this, the sugar is also filtered and decolorized in addition to various other processing steps. Various substances and means can be used for this process – including animal charcoal.

Animal charcoal, also known as carbo animalis, is an activated charcoal made from animal products such as bones, blood, or skin. Since these occur in large quantities as slaughterhouse waste products, animal charcoal is a particularly cheap filter material. Alternatively, sugar is refined with activated carbon from other raw materials or kieselguhr.

Recognizing vegan sugar: you need to know that

Animal charcoal does not have to be specified on the packaging as a production aid. It is therefore not clear by what means the sugar was processed and refined.
To be on the safe side, you have two options:

Ask the sugar producer directly whether or not they use animal products in their production.
Skip refined sugar and buy whole cane sugar instead.

Whole cane sugar has even more advantages over refined sugar: Since the molasses with its valuable minerals and vitamins remains in the sugar, it is considered the healthiest type of sugar.

Food

Isomalt: Why Sugar-free Candies are Often Not Calorie-free

September 24, 2025

What is Isomalt? Where is the sugar substitute found and why is it considered “sugar-free” even though it has calories?

When it comes to sweets, many people turn to a sugar-free alternative – it’s better for the teeth and supposedly calorie-free. Unfortunately, this is often not true: Isomalt, for example, is a common sugar substitute in sugar-free foods – and it is actually sugar-free, but by no means low in calories.

What is Isomalt?

Isomalt is a sugar substitute (more precisely: a sugar substitute) and has the E number E953. In nature, the sugar alternative occurs, for example, in sugar beets. Isomalt is odorless, white and crystalline. The sugar substitute is also available in liquid form.

Isomalt for the food industry is produced from normal beet sugar in two processing steps:

In the first step, isomaltulose is extracted from the beet sugar with the help of enzymes.
In the next step, isomalt is obtained by hydrolysis – the splitting of chemical compounds by water.

What foods contain isomalt?

Isomalt is used in the production of many sugar-free and low-sugar foods: candies, baked goods, mustard, sauces, jams and desserts. Since isomalt only slightly affects blood sugar and insulin levels, it is particularly suitable for diabetics and is contained in many diabetic foods. It is used in corn flakes for its technical properties to improve the crunch.

In addition, isomalt is used in pharmacy and in animal feed production. And in technical applications, Isomalt is used as a stabilizer (e.g. in the production of PVC), plasticizer, adhesive or binder.

Identification: How do I recognize isomalt?

The Food Information Regulation of 2014 regulates the labeling of isomalt: sweeteners and sugar alcohols – to which isomalt belongs – are summarized under the term “sweeteners”.

Foodstuffs containing sweeteners must be labeled “with sweetener(s)”. In addition, the sweetener must also be included in the list of ingredients. For isomalt, for example, this could look like this: “sweetener isomalt” or “sweetener E 953”.

Why is isomalt “sugar-free” and still has calories?

Isomalt has almost the same sweetening power as normal sugar and can be processed in a similar way. However, anyone who assumes that “sugar-free” foods – which contain isomalt – are also calorie-free is wrong. Although isomalt has only half as many calories as sugar, it is still two calories per gram. So if you’re watching your calorie intake, don’t be misled by the “sugar-free” description.

However, isomalt has a lower glycemic index (GI) than regular sugar. The GI indicates how a carbohydrate-containing food affects blood sugar levels. A score below 50 is considered low. An index of two to a maximum of nine was found for isomalt in various studies. This means that, in contrast to normal household sugar (GI = 68), isomalt is more suitable for diabetics and people who want to lose weight.

Isomalt: tooth-friendly sugar substitute

Compared to normal sugar, isomalt is also significantly better for the teeth: It forms very little acid because it is not metabolized by the microorganisms in the mouth due to its stability. Isomalt has only a very low potential to trigger caries and is considered to be tooth-friendly.

Alternatives to isomalt

Isomalt has clear advantages: it is tooth-friendly, has a low glycemic index and only half the calories of regular beet sugar. However, don’t let the term “sugar-free” fool you: Many sugar-free foods are not also calorie-free. And the sugar substitute has another disadvantage: in large quantities, isomalt can have a laxative effect.

A calorie-free sugar alternative is erythritol. It is made by fermenting grape sugar. Like isomalt, it has only a minor effect on blood sugar and insulin levels. However, this sugar alternative is truly zero-calorie.