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Sugar alcohols, properly called polyols, are plant based sweeteners that do the job of sugar in food with less energy behind them. UK labelling law counts maltitol, isomalt and sorbitol at 2.4 calories per gram against sugar's 4, and polyols sit on their own line of the nutrition table, separate from sugars. Those three are the ones you will meet most often in sugar free confectionery.
Turn over almost any sugar free sweet or chocolate bar and the ingredients list leads with a name ending in ol. This guide explains what those ingredients are, what they change on the label and which ones sweeten the Diablo range.
What is a sugar alcohol, exactly?
A sugar alcohol is a carbohydrate whose structure sits partway between a sugar and an alcohol, which is how the family got its slightly confusing name. There is no ethanol in them, nothing related to drink. The alcohol part refers to hydroxyl groups on the molecule, a piece of chemistry naming and nothing more.
Small amounts occur naturally in fruit and vegetables: sorbitol in cherries and plums, mannitol in asparagus. The versions used in food are made from plant starches and sugars. Maltitol, the workhorse of sugar free chocolate, starts as starch from maize or wheat, and we cover its full story in what is maltitol.
On a UK ingredients list each one can appear by name or by E number: sorbitol is E420, mannitol E421, isomalt E953, maltitol E965, lactitol E966, xylitol E967 and erythritol E968. Spot any of those and you are looking at a polyol.
How does the body handle polyols?
Sugar is absorbed quickly and almost completely in the small intestine. Polyols take the slow road. They are absorbed gradually and only in part, and what is not absorbed carries on to the large intestine, where gut microbes ferment it much as they ferment fibre.
That slow, partial ride is the entire point. It is why polyols deliver fewer calories than sugar, and it is the mechanism behind the one compliant way UK law allows their effect on blood glucose to be described, from the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register:
Consumption of foods containing maltitol instead of sugar induces a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar-containing foods.
Authorised wording, GB nutrition and health claims register. Equivalent entries cover sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, lactitol, isomalt and erythritol.
What do polyols change on the nutrition label?
Three practical reads. First, energy: every gram of maltitol, isomalt or sorbitol counts at 2.4 calories instead of sugar's 4, with erythritol set lower still at zero, and that gap is where most of the calorie saving in sugar free confectionery comes from. Second, the sugars line: polyols do not count as sugars, so a bar built on maltitol can honestly show a fraction of the sugars of its conventional twin. Third, carbohydrate: polyols still sit inside the total carbohydrate figure, on their own labelled line, so the label always shows you exactly how much of the carbohydrate is polyol.
Which sugar alcohols are in Diablo products?
Maltitol carries most of the range: the chocolate bars, cookies, wafers, cakes, spreads and dessert sauces. Our boiled sweets are built on isomalt with maltitol syrup, a pairing that gives a hard sweet its glassy snap. The gummies use maltitol with sorbitol. And the peanut butters use no sweetener at all, because their ingredients list reads 100 percent peanuts.
Sweetened with maltitol: 42 g polyols and 0.5 g sugars per 100 g, the trace sugars occurring naturally in the cocoa
Sugar Free Strawberry and Cream Sweets
Isomalt and maltitol syrup: 86.8 g polyols and 0.5 g sugars per 100 g in a boiled sweet
Not a low calorie food. See nutrition information for sugar and calorie content.
The two range names on our packs describe the sugar, not the sweetener. Sugar Free means no more than 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g. No Added Sugar means none added, with any sugars on the table occurring naturally in ingredients like milk or cocoa. The full explanation lives in our guide to sugar free vs no added sugar.
Can you eat too many polyols?
You can, which is why products carrying more than 10 percent polyols state on the pack that excessive consumption may produce laxative effects. The same slow, partial absorption that lowers the energy count means a large amount arriving at once gives your gut microbes a lot to ferment. The sensible approach is the one you would take with any high fibre food: enjoy a few pieces at a time, and let your gut adjust to a new product before going back for the rest of the bag. Portion sizes are printed on every Diablo pack.
Frequently asked questions
Are sugar alcohols the same as artificial sweeteners?
No. Polyols are bulk sweeteners made from plant starches and sugars, roughly as sweet as sugar and used in similar quantities. High intensity sweeteners like steviol glycosides from the stevia leaf are hundreds of times sweeter, so they are used in tiny amounts and need a bulking partner in solid food. Our guide to what is stevia covers that side of the family.
Do sugar alcohols raise blood sugar?
They are absorbed slowly and only partly, and the wording UK law authorises puts it precisely: consumption of foods containing maltitol instead of sugar induces a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar-containing foods. The register carries equivalent entries for the other polyols. If you manage a health condition, your healthcare team is the right place for personal advice.
Why are they called sugar alcohols if there is no alcohol?
The name comes from chemistry. The molecules carry hydroxyl groups, which chemists call alcohol groups. There is no ethanol involved, and eating them has nothing in common with drinking.
Is xylitol in Diablo products, and is it safe around dogs?
We do not use xylitol in any Diablo product. It is worth knowing that xylitol, common in chewing gum, is highly toxic to dogs even in small amounts, so any product containing it should be kept well out of a dog's reach.