Organic erythritol is a sugar alcohol that we use in some products. It is naturally occurring in many fruits and vegetables.
Don't be alarmed. Sugar alcohols are not, as their name implies, alcohols at all. They are named this way because they are structurally a combination of a carbohydrate and an alcohol, but are perfectly safe because they don't contain ethanol, which contributes to the negative effects commonly associated with alcohol.
Sugar alcohols are naturally occurring in some fruits, but they're also added to foods to help reduce sugar content. Historically, sugar alcohols like maltitol and sorbitol have been known to cause gastrointestinal (GI) issues because they can pull water into the intestine or get fermented by gut bacteria and cause symptoms like gas and bloating. However, erythritol is quite different as studies show that an individual can consume up to 50g/day without causing GI distress. And, at only 0.24 calories per gram erythritol helps to sweeten without causing any of the harmful metabolic effects of excess sugar.
Is erythritol safe?
The health and safety of Orgain products and consumers is our top priority which is why Orgain products are hand-crafted from high-quality ingredients to maximize nutrition. To ensure a delicious taste experience for some of Orgain products, Orgain uses USDA Certified organic erythritol derived from non-GMO corn. The amount of erythritol used in our plant-based products is low, ranging from 3-5 grams per serving.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in fruits and vegetables. There are decades of scientific research showing reduced-calorie sweeteners like erythritol to be safe as a food ingredient. The World Health Organization (WHO) approved erythritol in 1999, and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) did the same in 2001. The FDA has also determined erythritol to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS), a determination that requires the scientific data and information about the use of a substance to be widely known and there must be a consensus among qualified experts that the data and information establish that the substance is safe under the conditions of its intended use.
