Sugar Alcohols Are in Many Sugar-Free Foods. What Are They?

Q: I’ve noticed that more and more diet and sugar-free food products contain ingredients called sugar alcohols. What are they? And are they any better for you than table sugar?

If you are a regular reader of food packaging, you may have noticed a row under the “total carbohydrate” section of some nutrition facts labels called “sugar alcohol” — and wondered what it means.

Despite what the name might imply, sugar alcohols are neither sugars nor alcohols, said Imashi Fernando, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Seattle. They are a type of carbohydrate that can be added to foods and drinks to make them sweeter without adding the same amounts of calories and carbs as regular sugar. They are not technically artificial sweeteners, Ms. Fernando said.

Some sugar alcohols can be found in whole foods. Pineapples, olives, asparagus, sweet potatoes and carrots are natural sources of mannitol; cereals, mushrooms and some fruits and vegetables contain xylitol; and various fruits like apples, pears, blackberries, peaches and prunes contain sorbitol. But the sugar alcohols often present in packaged products — like sugar-free candies, gums, chocolate, energy bars, cookies, energy drinks, cough syrups, throat lozenges and toothpastes — are synthetically produced.

You can usually spot many sugar alcohols on ingredients lists by the “-ol” at the ends of their names.

The upsides of sugar alcohols

The main draw of sugar alcohols is that they can sweeten foods and drinks without adding too many calories and carbohydrates, said Joanne Slavin, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. Whereas regular table sugar supplies about four calories per gram, Dr. Slavin said, sugar alcohols provide much less than that — “anywhere from half a calorie to three calories per gram.”