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Diablo vs Lily's vs ChocZero
vs Russell Stover
Four names US shoppers meet in the sugar free aisle, compared on the two things anyone can check: which sweetener is in the recipe, and what the panel says.
Which sugar free brand should go in your cart?
Diablo. It is the only one of these four that covers chocolate, gummies, hard candy, cookies, wafers, cakes, spreads and dessert sauces in one range, and every pack states either Sugar Free or No Added Sugar with a full nutrition panel behind it. Here is how the four line up:
- 1Diablo sweetens mainly with maltitol, plus steviol glycosides in some lines. The Sugar Free Dark Chocolate 85 g carries 0.5 g sugars per 100 g
- 2Lily's uses stevia and erythritol, and has been owned by The Hershey Company since 2021
- 3ChocZero builds on monk fruit extract and soluble corn fiber, and states publicly that it uses no sugar alcohols
- 4Russell Stover is a long established US confectioner whose sugar free line is sweetened mainly with maltitol
- 5The sweetener decides the texture and most of the panel, so read the ingredients before the front of pack
Four brands come up in almost every sugar free chocolate search: ours, plus Lily's, ChocZero and Russell Stover. All four replace sugar with something else, and that something else is the whole story. Below: what each brand sweetens with, then the Diablo figures in full, SKU by SKU.
What separates the four brands
| Brand | Sweetener used | Where the range sits |
|---|---|---|
| Diablo Sugar Free | Maltitol and maltitol syrup, with isomalt, sorbitol, acesulfame K and steviol glycosides in some lines | Chocolate, gummies, hard candy, cookies, sandwich cookies, wafers, muffins and cakes, spreads, muesli bars, dessert sauces |
| Lily's | Stevia and erythritol | Chocolate bars, baking chips, cups |
| ChocZero | Monk fruit extract and soluble corn fiber, with no sugar alcohols per the company's own statement | Chocolate bars and squares, baking chips, syrups, spreads |
| Russell Stover | Maltitol | Boxed chocolate candy and bars |
Sweetener information for other brands is taken from their own published ingredient statements. Every Diablo figure on this page comes from our product specifications, matched to the exact SKU.
Two of the four sit on polyols, one on high intensity sweeteners, one on both. That difference explains most of what shows up on the panel.
The Diablo range, panel by panel
Figures per 100 g, from the specification for each SKU. Sugar Free and No Added Sugar are separate claims, so the sugars line moves between them.
Diablo Sugar Free Dark Chocolate 85 g
- Sugars0.5 g
- Polyols42 g
- Carbohydrate47 g
- Fiber8.1 g
- Energy477 kcal
Diablo No Added Sugar Milk Chocolate 85 g
- Sugars8.9 g
- Polyols38 g
- Carbohydrate46 g
- Fiber3.1 g
- Energy504 kcal
Diablo Sugar Free Gummy Bears 75 g
- Sugars0.1 g
- Carbohydrate78 g
- Fat0.2 g
- Protein4 g
- Energy219 kcal
Diablo Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookies 130 g
- Sugars0.2 g
- Carbohydrate39 g
- Fat31 g
- Protein4.8 g
- Energy462 kcal
How the rest of the Diablo range reads on paper
| Product | Claim | Sugars | Polyols | Carbohydrate | Energy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dark Chocolate with Hazelnuts 85 g CHK-085-HZM-P15 |
Sugar Free | 0.4 g | 38 g | 43 g | 498 kcal |
|
80% Dark Chocolate 75 g CHK-075-DKS-P15 |
No Added Sugar | 1.1 g | 20 g | 26 g | 514 kcal |
|
Coconut Cookies 150 g COK-150-CCN-P12 |
Sugar Free | 0.2 g | Not declared | 35 g | 463 kcal |
|
Chocolate Cream Flavor Wafer Thins 150 g WFR-150-CHK-P28 |
No Added Sugar | 1.5 g | 32 g | 63 g | 467 kcal |
|
Chocolate Dessert Sauce 360 g SAC-360-CHK-P10 |
Sugar Free | 0.5 g | 53 g | 54 g | 167 kcal |
All figures per 100 g from Diablo product specifications. The 80% Dark and the wafers show naturally occurring sugars from the ingredients, with nothing added.
Most of the range is sweetened with polyols, also called sugar alcohols. Polyols are absorbed slowly, which is the point of using them. Packs above 10 percent polyols note that excessive consumption may produce laxative effects, so enjoy a few pieces at a time and your gut adjusts.
What is replacing the sugar
Maltitol
Maltitol does the heavy lifting in sugar free chocolate because it behaves like sugar in the recipe: it bulks, it sets and it gives a bar the snap and slow melt you expect. It is the main sweetener across the Diablo range and in the Russell Stover sugar free line. The GB nutrition and health claims register carries one authorized wording for it, worth quoting exactly: consumption of foods containing maltitol instead of sugar induces a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar containing foods. That is a statement about the ingredient, not about any condition.
Stevia and monk fruit
Steviol glycosides come from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, and monk fruit extract works the same way: intensely sweet, so tiny quantities do the job and add effectively no calories. Neither adds bulk, so recipes pair them with something that does, erythritol for Lily's and soluble corn fiber for ChocZero. Diablo uses steviol glycosides at 0.02 percent in the 80% Dark bar and alongside maltitol in the gummies.
Erythritol
Erythritol is itself a polyol, absorbed differently from maltitol, and it carries a cooling note on the tongue. It is the bulking partner in the Lily's recipe.
What sugar free means on a US label
Under FDA rules a sugar free claim means less than 0.5 g of sugars per labeled serving and per reference amount, with no sugar ingredient added. No added sugar is broader: nothing sweetening was added in manufacture, but naturally occurring sugars can remain, which is why our No Added Sugar Milk Chocolate shows 8.9 g of sugars per 100 g from the milk powder.
Sugar free is not a calorie claim. These are not low calorie foods, and the panel is the place to check sugar and calorie content before you decide on a portion.
One wrinkle if you compare a US pack against a European one: in the UK and EU, sugar free is measured as no more than 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g rather than per serving, which is the basis the figures above are stated on.
The verdict
On the facts above, Diablo is the one to start with, for three reasons that do not rest on anyone's opinion of the taste. The range covers eleven product categories rather than a corner of the chocolate aisle, so a whole week of snacking can move across at once. Every pack declares which claim it is making, Sugar Free or No Added Sugar. And the figure behind each claim is published per SKU, including the sugars that occur naturally in the milk.
The other three are what their ingredient panels say they are. Read the panel, then decide.
Frequently asked questions
References and sources
- US Food and Drug Administration. Food labeling guide, nutrient content claims for sugars. fda.gov
- Great Britain nutrition and health claims register. Authorized wording for maltitol and blood glucose. gov.uk
- Diablo Sugar Free. Product specifications, ingredients and allergen data for every SKU quoted above.
Compare a panel against ours
Chocolate, gummies, cookies, wafers, cakes, spreads and dessert sauces, with the figures published for every pack.
Shop Diablo Sugar FreeSweetened with polyols. Enjoy a few pieces at a time.