# Use of sugar alcohols in sugar-free candy....why?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563 "2001-11-27T19:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/1 "2001-11-27T19:14:14Z")
As I sit here with a rumbling belly due to overindulgence (3 freakin’ pieces) of sugar-free candy, it occurs to me to question why food manufacturers (Russell Stover, in this instance) insist on using sugar alcohols to sweeten sugar-free candy? Sugar alcohols are renowned for causing gastrointestinal upset. The package even warns that “excessive consumption of this product may have a laxative effect”. With all of the other artificial sweeteners out there, why use the one that sends you off to the bathroom after you eat the product? I know that aspartame breaks down when it’s heated and loses its sweetening power (which makes it unfit for use in baking), but that saccharine and sucralose (a new sweetener being marketed under the brand name Splenda) do not. Is there a reason that these other non-disruptive sweeteners aren’t being used in candies? Is it inertia that keeps Russell Stover from changing to a more intestial-friendly recipe, or is there a technical problem I’m not aware of? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/2 "2001-11-27T19:24:15Z")
Never heard of “sugar alcohol” before. Is that what it’s called on the ingredients list? If you mean fructose or sorbitol, perhaps they use it because it is percieved as less artificial than the sweeteners you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![royjwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@royjwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/royjwood)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/3 "2001-11-27T19:25:36Z")
I would think that the potential for cancer from sacharine would be sufficient cause to stay from that one. I will gas ove cancer any day. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/4 "2001-11-27T19:35:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Keeve \* > **Never heard of “sugar alcohol” before. Is that what it’s called on the ingredients list?** Sugar alcohols are a whole class of sweeteners, of which sorbitol is one. Maltitol is the one used in Russell Stover candies. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by royjwood \* > **I would think that the potential for cancer from sacharine would be sufficient cause to stay from that one. I will gas ove cancer any day.** Ummmm…I believe that the cancer warning was removed from saccharine several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/5 "2001-11-27T21:13:33Z")
Saccharine does cause cancer. In rats. Just rats, not guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, or people. Just our unlucky friends, the rats. This would one of the very good reasons that multi-organism tests are now performed. Ap - who doesn’t like saccharine, even if it doesn’t cause cancer ---
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/6 "2001-11-27T21:32:55Z")
I think the truth about the carcinogenic effects were due to the fact that they were giving the rats a pound or two per day until they die. In human terms, you would have to consume maybe (WAG) 20-25 lb/day for it to be carcinogenic. Look at the research, and do the math. Nearly anything, in huge amounts, can cause cancer. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/7 "2001-11-27T21:48:34Z")
I think it’s beacuse of other properties that sugar and sugar alcohols share. They are normally associated to the consistance and ‘hardness’ or lack of. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/8 "2001-11-27T23:11:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jadis \* > \*\*Ummmm…I believe that the cancer warning was removed from saccharine several years ago. \*\* IIRC, saccharine is illegal in Canada, where cyclamate is legal. As opposed to the USA, where cyclamates were banned and saccharine is used. Sounds to me like a classic case of “my lobbyists can beat your lobbyists”. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/9 "2001-11-29T18:23:39Z")
What kind of candies are you eating? My WAG is that sugar alcohols have similar chemical properties to sugar, for instance, it is an interesting property of sugar that boiling a sugar syrup and getting it to a certain temperature produces hard candies like Lifesavers. Use a lower temp and you get caramel. You might also want to check the calorie counts between your candies and full-sugar candies. A looooong time ago, when I went on my one and only diet, I was told that sugar alcohols had just as many calories as regular sugar. To humans. What they didn’t do was feed the little buggies on your teeth that cause cavities. Thus sugar-free gum with sorbitol is a good thing, because you chew the gum for a long time. But sugar-free chocolate would be kind of pointless, if I am remembering correctly (and they haven’t changed their minds) ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/10 "2001-11-30T00:13:55Z")
That’s strange, I learned that bacteria can digest sugar alcohols, they just prefer to use regular sugars. It is more metabolically favorable. The switch-over costs energy that is not worth it if there are other sources. Low-down being that unless you chew sugarless gum and eat no other sugars, they are _probably_ not going to run on the sobitol, therefore it is not cavity promoting. I do know that bacteria can digest mannitol. I used it to adjust the amount of dissolved materials in culturing solutions. If the level in not very similar to the level in the plant cells that you are culturing, you will burst/shrink them. Mannitol raises the level of dissolved materials, and the plants, like us, cannot metabolize them. Therefore, even though the cells feed and grow, the equilibrium is maintained. However, any baterial contamination will shoot the levels down as the bacteria consume the mannitol. Bye bye, plant cells, hello bacteria. Apricot ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/11 "2001-11-30T01:01:12Z")
Can anyone point me to a Website that defines a sugar alcohol? This is a new concept to me, because (IFIIK) an alcohol is defined by a hydroxyl group; sugars by definition have hydroxyl groups in the ratio of nCH2O. With the ratio of OH side groups being the defining moiety of the carbons in a sugar. Arrangements and orientations of the hydroyxl groups defines different sugars. This is not my area, but what makes a sugar alcohol? Adding another hydroxyl group would just make another sugar, right? Are we adding hydroxyls to carbons that have hydroxyl groups? I’m not an organic chemist, but does disrupting the ratio make a sugar an alcohol? Is the hydroxdyl added to a carborn with a hydroxyl? Just hoping I got my tuition’s worth when I had to take organic chem. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/12 "2001-11-30T01:36:51Z")
Can anyone point me to a Website that defines a sugar alcohol? This is a new concept to me, because (IFIIK) an alcohol is defined by a hydroxyl group; sugars by definition have hydroxyl groups in the ratio of nCH2O. With the ratio of OH side groups being the defining moiety of the carbons in a sugar. Arrangements and orientations of the hydroyxl groups defines different sugars. This is not my area, but what makes a sugar alcohol? Adding another hydroxyl group would just make another sugar, right? Are we adding hydroxyls to carbons that have hydroxyl groups? I’m not an organic chemist, but does disrupting the ratio make a sugar an alcohol? Is the hydroxdyl added to a carborn with a hydroxyl? Just hoping I got my tuition’s worth when I had to take organic chem. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/13 "2001-11-30T03:39:21Z")
Look [here](http://class.fst.ohio-state.edu/FST605/lectures/lect14.html) for the structure of glucose, and [here](http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn951425158X/html/x190.html) for the structure of “sugar alcohols” (they are neither sugars nor alcohols). The difference is that the polyols (i.e. “sugar alcohols”) have a terminal -OH, compared to glucose with its ==O. [WAG] Polyols are the more “scientific” term (I think) for “sugar alcohols”, the latter term being just be a convenience term used by agencies like the FDA. [/WAG] ---
**Author:** ![slackergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@slackergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slackergirl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/14 "2001-11-30T05:13:25Z")
I think it is a combination of the structure it gives to the candy, and heat tolerance. I’ve gotten really good at cooking with Splenda. I’ve almost perfected chocolates (soft truffles, and harder pieces, close to the texture of a candy bar) using it, and can do a very good cheesecake. But, a lot of the desert things that require the physical properties of sugar, such as for crispness and browning in cookies, fail miserably. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/15 "2001-11-30T09:12:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zyada \* > \*\*But sugar-free chocolate would be kind of pointless, if I am remembering correctly (and they haven’t changed their minds) \*\* True. Unless half your family is diabetic. Then you receive many thanks when you find some that actually taste good. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-sugar-alcohols-in-sugar-free-candy-why/95563/16 "2001-11-30T13:44:23Z")
Actually, I think they’ve changed the rules on sugar consumption for diabetics. Mom is diabetic, and she can have full sugar items like candy and dessert as long as she has it in very limited quantities. She gets a Hershey’s candy that is dark chocolate and almonds in a bite-size form (Nuggets, IIRC) and has like one or two a day.