Polyols

Mannitol is a polyol (sugar alcohol) widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries because of its unique functional properties. It is about 50 percent as sweet as sucrose and has a desirable cooling effect often used to mask bitter tastes. Mannitol is non-cariogenic and has a low caloric content. Mannitol...

Maltitol is a member of a family of bulk sweeteners known as polyols or sugar alcohols. It has a pleasant sweet taste--remarkably similar to sucrose. Maltitol is about 90% as sweet as sugar, non-cariogenic, and significantly reduced in calories. Maltitol is especially useful in the production of sweets, including sugarless...

Sorbitol, a polyol (sugar alcohol), is a bulk sweetener found in numerous food products. In addition to providing sweetness, it is an excellent humectant and texturizing agent. Sorbitol is about 60 percent as sweet as sucrose with one-third fewer calories. It has a smooth mouthfeel with a sweet, cool and...

Discovered in 1891 by German chemist Emil Fischer, xylitol has been used as a sweetening agent in human food since the 1960s. Xylitol is a white crystalline powder that is odorless, with a pleasant, sweet taste. It is gaining increasing acceptance as an alternative sweetener due to its role in...

Lactitol, a polyol (sugar alcohol), is currently used as a bulk sweetener in calorie-controlled foods. Discovered in 1920, it was first used in foods in the 1980's. Lactitol has a clean sweet taste that closely resembles the taste profile of sucrose. It has only 40 percent of sucrose's sweetening power....

Isomalt is a unique, excellent tasting sugar-free bulk sweetener. Because the same amount of isomalt is used in products as would be used if they were sweetened with sugar, isomalt-containing products have the same appearance and texture as those made with sugar. Discovered in the 1960s, isomalt is made from...