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What Is Polydextrose? The Fiber Behind Sugar Free Cakes
Polydextrose is a fiber made from about 90 percent glucose and 10 percent sorbitol with a little citric or phosphoric acid, heated until the glucose forms branched chains digestive enzymes can barely break down. It tastes only faintly sweet and does the bulking in sugar free cakes, and US labels can declare it as dietary fiber.
This one carries it, among the dietary fibers on the back of the package:
On this page: what it is made of · why cakes use it · sugar or fiber · calories · safety
What is polydextrose made of?
The FDA regulation that permits it, 21 CFR 172.841, describes a melt of about 89 percent glucose, 10 percent sorbitol and 1 percent citric acid (a second recipe uses 0.1 percent phosphoric acid instead), condensed under heat. The glucose units join to each other in every direction, so the result is a branched chain rather than the neat straight chains found in starch.
Human digestive enzymes are built for the regular bonds in starch and sugar, and most of these random ones are beyond them. In Europe and the UK the same ingredient carries the additive number E1200.
Why do sugar free cakes use polydextrose?
In a cake, sugar is a large share of the batter by weight, and it holds on to water, which keeps the crumb soft. Take it out and you need something to fill that space.
Our cakes split the job in two. The sweetness comes from a sugar alcohol topped up with a trace of acesulfame potassium. The bulk comes from fiber. On our 200 g Chocolate Cake the pack prints Sweeteners (E965, E950), which are maltitol and acesulfame potassium, and further down it lists cellulose and polydextrose as its dietary fibers. The FDA lists the jobs polydextrose may do in food as bulking agent, formulation aid, humectant and texturizer, and a humectant is simply an ingredient that keeps moisture in.
Is polydextrose a sugar?
No, and it is not a sugar alcohol either. It is a fiber, so it adds nothing to the sugars or sugar alcohol figures on a label. It has a faint taste and almost no sweetness, which is why it is never the sweetener in a recipe.
Per 100 g, our Chocolate Cake carries 0 g sugars, 21 g sugar alcohols and 4 g fiber. That fiber figure covers everything in the cake, the flour and cocoa included, so it does not tell you how much of it is polydextrose. Our sugar free cakes are not low calorie foods. The calorie count is on the same panel.
How many calories are in polydextrose?
One calorie per gram on a US label. The FDA's 2018 guidance lets manufacturers declare polydextrose as dietary fiber and count it at 1 calorie per gram, against 4 for sugar. Labels in the UK and Europe count every fiber at 2 calories per gram.
| Polydextrose | Maltitol | Sugar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it shows on a label | Dietary fiber | Sugar alcohol | Total sugars |
| Sweetness | Barely sweet | About 90 percent of sugar | The benchmark |
| Job in a cake | Bulk and moisture | Sweetness and bulk | Both |
Sources: FDA 2018 dietary fiber guidance; uses from 21 CFR 172.841.
Is polydextrose safe to eat?
Yes. The FDA permits it in most foods under 21 CFR 172.841. The European Food Safety Authority re-evaluated it in January 2021 and concluded there was no need for a numerical acceptable daily intake and no safety concern for the reported uses and use levels (EFSA Journal, 2021).
The same regulation asks for a note about laxative effects in sensitive people only when one serving holds more than 15 g of polydextrose. The laxative line on our cake packs comes from the maltitol in the recipe, which is a sugar alcohol.
Polydextrose is one of several fibers you will meet on a sugar free label. Some of our chocolate bars use a different fiber, covered in our guide to inulin.
Frequently asked questions
Is polydextrose bad for you?
No. The FDA permits it as a bulking agent, humectant and texturizer in most foods, and EFSA re-evaluated it in 2021 and found no need to set a numerical acceptable daily intake.
Is polydextrose a sugar alcohol?
No. It is made with a little sorbitol, which is a sugar alcohol, but the finished ingredient is a fiber and is declared as dietary fiber, not as a sugar alcohol.
Is polydextrose natural?
It is made, not extracted. Glucose, sorbitol and a little citric or phosphoric acid are heated together until the glucose forms new chains that do not occur in nature in this form.
Does polydextrose taste sweet?
Barely. It is used for bulk and texture, so a sugar free cake still needs a sweetener alongside it. In ours that is maltitol with a trace of acesulfame potassium.