Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol, meaning it has less calories than sugar and it doesn't affect blood sugar or insulin.
It's often seen in chewing gum, mouthwash, throat lozenges, and medicines with the aim of reducing their calorie content and also in some candies such as jelly beans. Sorbitol is sometimes used to replace other sweeteners but can be used alone for certain applications such as toothpaste where its long-term stability provides an advantage over other types of sweeteners.
Besides having half the calories of sugar per serving (or even less), sorbitol has what some call a "cooling effect" on food when added. This is a type of sensation that can be described as "waxy" or "silky" and is often found in stick-type candy, cough drops, throat lozenges, and some hard candies.
Sorbitol is broken down by the body into glucose. It is not metabolized by bacteria in the mouth (which cause tooth decay), so it does not contribute to tooth decay. Also, unlike xylitol (another sugar alcohol), sorbitol does not cause a noticeable increase in insulin levels.
Although some people may have reactions to large amounts of Sorbitol, this substance appears to be harmless for most people when used in normal amounts. Sorbitol is a type of sugar alcohol that is also called glucitol and has been in use for centuries. It can be found in many fruits, including pears, apples, peaches, prunes, apricots and bananas. Sorbitol is a type of sugar alcohol that's also known as glucitol and has been in use for centuries. It can be found in many fruits - including pears, apples, peaches, prunes, apricots and bananas. A non-sugar sweetener made from corn syrup or cane sugar that you may have heard of before as polyols or POs (polyols). It has zero calories per gram, is not broken down by the body, and therefore passes through our digestive tract without being absorbed. Sorbitol is considered GRAS (Generally Recognised as Safe) under the Food and Drug Administration proposed ruling of 1958.
Sorbitol syrup is a viscous liquid sweetener which finds use as an artificial sweetener in diet foods or as a non-nutritive sweetener in dietetic foods. Sorbitol syrup is industrially prepared from glucose by aqueous hydrogenation of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with a yield of about 90%. It is about 80% as sweet as sucrose and does not crystallize on storage, making it cheap and easy to store in bulk. Sorbitol is used primarily in the food industry as a low-calorie sweetener in foods. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that sorbitol is GRAS.
Sorbitol syrups are made by heating glucose syrup with hydrogenation of fructose under pressure. The resulting syrup contains about 90% sorbitol while the fructose becomes dehydrated, leaving a black syrup with no flavor or odor. It is a stiff high-fructose corn syrup that lacks the typical flavor of other HFCS products. The syrup can be used in the same manner as other HFCS products and is often combined with other syrups, like dextrose, sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup, to make items taste sweeter.Â
