What is erythritol?

Answer 1

Erythritol is a naturally-occurring sugar alcohol (polyol) found in many fruits and fermented foods. For mass production purposes, it is usually manufactured by fermenting glucose with a natural organism called Moniliella pollinis. Erythritol is a popular low carb, zero calorie sweetener, but it has a sweetness profile that is only about 60% to 70% as sweet as sugar. It does not affect blood sugar the way regular sugar does, because it is absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine and then excreted almost unchanged in the urine. Because of this, erythritol does not cause the gastro-intestinal distress that many sugar alcohols do.

Erythritol has a mouth-cooling feel when eaten in concentrated forms, but in many baked goods it is diluted enough for this effect to be unnoticeable. Combining it with other low carb and low calorie sweeteners, such as stevia or sucralose, helps to mitigate this effect and also helps to increase its sweetness profile.