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Sugar Free Candy Overview

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Posted by Your Guide on October 11, 2006 9:21 AM

Most sugar free candy, including gum and breath mints, taste good. Sorbitol and mantitol are frequently used in sugar free candies. Sorbitol and mantitol are sugars derived from alcohol. They are readily converted to fructose and glucose.

The problem with these sweeteners is that they are slowly absorbed from the intestines and may produce a laxative or gaseous effect. Many such candies, despite being sugar free, have large amounts of calories and fat.

It is not recommended that you eat a lot of sugar free candy at a time. If gas or diarrhea bothers you, omit the sugar free candy for one week and see if your symptoms go away. And then try the sugar free candy again and see if the symptoms return.

Exercise caution with regard to candy labeled sugar free. The sweetening agents, sorbitol, invert sugar, fructose, and dextrose, in sugar free candy still contain calories and must be counted as part of your meal plan. Also, foods labeled sugar free may still be high in carbohydrates, fats and calories. Another problem is that some people are sensitive to sugar alcohol, a type of low calorie sweetener used in some sugar free candy, and may experience gas, bloating and diarrhea if their sugar intake exceeds 75 calories per day. Sugar alcohols include sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol.

Sugar free candies now outsell all of the traditional candy favorites such as Snickers, Milky Way, KitKat, Butterfinger and Hershey's Kisses. Sugar free isn't really a brand, but if you take the sugar free candy category as a whole, its sales are 21 percent greater than Snickers and more than twice those of Hershey's Kisses. Several factors have led the surge in sugar-free candy sales. Most dramatically, sugar free candies taste much better than they did even a few years ago. Remarkable improvements in sugar substitutes and other ingredients have led to sugar free candies that rival their traditional sugar added counterparts in taste and texture.



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