Maltitol: A Sweetener and a Laxative in One!
One of the curious recent developments in the Atkins diet craze is the overwhelming abundance of low-carb and no-carb sweets and pastries at supermarkets. 
When I last did the diet, back in 2000, this was basically a cottage industry, with two hard-to-find brands. Now it’s a full-blown aisle in the supermarket. Just about every candy manufacturer has replicated their product in sugar-free form; all the bread makers have concocted low-carb loaves; and there are umpteen mixes and powders to make your own Atkins approved baked goods at home.
All of this perfectly logical. Atkins is a bitch of a diet to get the hang of, and given its rising popularity, naturally there are plenty of people wanting to join the craze but not wanting to abandon their favorite foods. (After all, I’m one of these weak-willed types.) But if there’s one thing I just don’t get about all this, its the quick ascension of maltitol to the top of the artificial sweetener heap.
You see it in just about every product on the market: from Carbolite sour patch kids, to Russell Stover sugar-free chocolates, to Atkins chocolate chip cookie mix. But, as far as I’m concerned, matitol has got to be one of the worst inventions in chemical engineering history. Say what you will about aspartame, saccharine, Splenda, and sucralose, but none of them have the unholy side effects of maltitol. Among the many that I’ve been blessed with are abdominal cramping, massive diarrhea, bloating, fatigue, and general indigestion.
You might wonder, Ted, if maltitol’s so terrible, why keep eating foods with it? Fair question. Indeed, I ignored the small-print warning�”may have a laxative effect” — again and again. But I plead the same excuse as the people at Tastykake, who tried for months to engineer maltitol-infused snacky treats (see “A Trimmer Tastykake,” from May 16 Philadelphia Inquirer). After extensive trial and error with the substance, a sugar alcohol, they finally got to the point that almost everyone in the company was doubled over in agonizing pain, and it was clear that maltitol was just too risky an ingredient. Why didn’t they abandon it earlier — like, say, after the first case of massive diarrhea. For one, everyone in the industry was using maltitol. But even more important, they top brass at Tasktykake was determined to bring something to market as quickly as possible. I too got sucked into believing the ubiquity and quick adoption of the sweetener must be a testament to its quality. In other words, I’m retarded.
Maltitol appears under the “sugar alcohol” category on nutritional labels. Anything more than a couple grams guarantees a evening of rushed trips to the bathroom.
Thank God there’s finally a group out there to stop the spread of this nasty sugar substitute: nomaltitol.com. From the website: “The Truth about Maltitol. You’ll learn the pros and cons of the two leading versions, as well as have a good laugh when you ‘Race to the Toilet’ in our special game.”
Update: Apparently the nomaltitol.com folks has gone rogue. Though the website is no longer up and running, there are still plenty of bloggers out there continuing the guerilla campaign to put a stop to diarrhea-inducing artificial sweetners. Check out Hand Coding, which has tackled the fuzzy math of the glycemic index, and Anders J. Svenssen, who has been writing to Jelly Belly asking for charitable donations of candy — but not the kind that gives him the shits.
Elva Jean, 
John, 
spriggy, and 20 others are discussing. 
Matt 11:59 am on July 22, 2004 Permalink |
The game is under construction!? Where’s the fun in that?
And Maltitol doesn’t kill me in small doses, but it gets ugly in moderate amounts. I recommend avoiding sweet stuff in general, or only eat it in small, infrequent amounts. The latter works for me.
Matt 11:16 am on July 23, 2004 Permalink |
I just looked at your netflix history – “Chasing Liberty?” “CHASING LIBERTY!” That’s cruel and unusual. Netflix needs to let you give movies 0 stars.
Ted 2:37 pm on July 23, 2004 Permalink |
“Chasing Liberty” is precisely the reason I spent a whole evening setting up that star-rating thing. Just so that nobody else would be subjected to such an evil hour-and-a-half of celluloid.
Marty 12:00 pm on November 18, 2004 Permalink |
I can’t believe this is the only site I can find when I search for anything negative about maltitol! Surely other people have experienced similar reactions…flatulence so disgusting I can’t live with myself after eating an ice cream bar with 7g of the stuff. It took a while to weed out just what was causing this anti social reaction. Suspected it was one of the ‘fat replacers’ and tried different products one at a time. Whew. Either something died in there or it’s maltitol!! How bad? Had to burn incense all night to hide the odour from my room mate.
Marlyn Stewart 7:47 pm on March 13, 2005 Permalink |
This stuff has made my heart area seem to cramp along with a weird taste in my mouth. I just went through a full physical and it’s not me. I work out everyday, so all these bad side-effects are from the Think Thin bars. The company changed their formula to make the bars contain less active carbs and I end up sick…. They suck. Thanks for your info. I couldn’t figure out what was making me sick until now.
Marlyn Stewart 8:40 pm on March 13, 2005 Permalink |
This stuff has made my heart area seem to cramp along with a weird taste in my mouth. I just went through a full physical and it’s not me. I work out everyday, so all these bad side-effects are from the Think Thin bars. The company changed their formula to make the bars contain less active carbs and I end up sick…. They suck. Thanks for your info. I couldn’t figure out what was making me sick until now.
Jax 12:33 am on March 21, 2005 Permalink |
Thank you for info regarding maltitol. wish I had known before I ate bag of Russel Stovers Low Carb jelly beans. total of about 50 grams of maltitol. I feel like I am dying.
Kate Eaton 1:35 pm on September 14, 2005 Permalink |
Wow! Good to know I’m not going crazy. Spent first day of vacation in Colorado visiting convenience store and truck stop restrooms after eating about 20 sugar-free Jelly Bellies. Didn’t make the connection to Maltitol until after eating sugar-free banana pudding at a buffet restaurant earlier this week and spending next 24 hours with horrendous diarrhea and cramping. Thanks for the info.
thorgal 11:49 am on February 5, 2006 Permalink |
juste ate 50g of chocolate containing some maltitol as a sweetener. Didn’t know about it before and wanted to be informed about it. I read good stuff, but what you say here must be put in the “cons” category I guess. Now, after having read you, I am expecting some cramps (I am not feeling bad right now). I will report anything wrong if it happens so. SInce it is my first time with maltitol (by accident I must say, I am not following any special diet), it should have a striking effect 😉
thorgal 2:08 pm on February 5, 2006 Permalink |
ok, I can confirm … start farting some hell of a fart …
Adam 1:30 pm on February 12, 2006 Permalink |
Once in awhile i buy a pack of Redvines which have 68g of maltitol per pack. I havent experienced any seriously bad side effect unless i eat at least half a pack at once.
Mary 11:24 am on February 18, 2006 Permalink |
This stuff robbed me of 8 hours of my life. I was doubled over in pain. YIKES
Karla 6:06 pm on March 10, 2006 Permalink |
OH MY GOSH…
Thank you for this article! This has totally pieced the puzzle together for me. This morning I ate a half a pack of Red Vines. I did not at all get the laxative effect. Instead I got a VERY gurgly stomach, out-of-control gas, a stomach that bloated to the size of a watermelon (yes… my students were actually asking me if I was pregnant!!!), painful cramping, chills, and the need to vomit (but I could not get that out). It was HORRIBLE! It lasted for about 6 hours. I will always check for sugar alcohols now and will NEVER eat Red Vines again!
WATCH OUT FOR MALTITOL!!!
My Poor Girlfreind 4:29 am on March 11, 2006 Permalink |
At approximately 10:00pm my girlfreind and I got some candy from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. The chocolate said sugar free on the tabs. I asked the guy behind the counter what substitute they use and he said malitol. Then he gave us a breif disclaimer not to each too much or diarrhea may follow. Right now I am fine but my girlf friend had the worst gas. She ate a toffee crunch and half a peanut butter bucket. She is in the bathroom with her reading material and has not come out for the past hour. After reading the feedback from everyone, I am assuming she wont be comming out for another 5-7 hours. Thank you for the info. Atleast we know it is not the Indian food!
Worth It 2:32 pm on March 14, 2006 Permalink |
This morning i had about 10 sugar-free peppermint patties and just about 2 hours later the gurgling started. I’ve had to get to the bathroom about once every 10-20 minutes for the past 2 hours but havn’t had any pain or cramping – just a lot of gurgling and, pardon the graphic description, liquid poo. Its not diahrrea – its clear like water. This stuff is freakin crazy! Whatever – the peppermint patties were good and im on my period and cant have the sugar, so the trips to the bathroom are worth it – and i feel like im cleansing my bowels.
Poor Wife 11:36 pm on March 15, 2006 Permalink |
Maltitol has robbed me of my wife for 5 hours so far and not showing any signs of releasing her from the toilet jail yet. She was sucked into the terrorist plot by good tasting sugar free candy. She is proclaiming from her thrown that the warning should read :**Caution may cause Gremlins to form and try to escape from their home**: The pain is almost unbearable she stated. Everytime she tries to leave her cell she can’t because the cramping hits and the diarea. This stuff should be banned from the market.
The Optimist 1:20 pm on March 16, 2006 Permalink |
Is there anything (fruit, veggies, crackers??) that you can eat when eating something with maltitol that will reduce/eliminate the smelly side affect?
I just bought 100 bars of Balance nutrition bars from eBay that has 19g of “sugar alcohol”. Looking at the ingredients reveals that its maltitol syrup.
I like the taste and the convenience (not to mention the vitamins and protein).
What about claims that your gut gets used to using maltitol? Anybody become “immune”. How long did it take?
Thanks
Eternal Optimist
Sally Suffered Too! 2:10 pm on March 21, 2006 Permalink |
A “friend” bought me a box of sugar free mixed flavour chocolate truffles for my birthday recently. These it transpires had Maltitol as the main ingredient.
Being a real choccy addict and knowing they were sugar free I greedily scoffed half the box whilst watching a DVD at home. Lucky I was home!
Just before the end of the film (romantic climax) my stomach started to gurgle and cramp with the most awful gas! You really don’t want to know what followed, nor the indignity I suffered. Suffice to say I’m very pleased that I was at home and alone. If not, then severe embarrassment would have been suffered.
Never again!
Crampy I mean Carole 2:18 pm on April 5, 2006 Permalink |
I ate some Russell Stover sugar free jelly beans – it had to be the most excrutiating pain I have ever experienced! I thought I was going to have to go to the nearest E.R. I had the gurgling, cramping in my chest – the worst part is that I only ate about 10 jelly beans – I think I would have died if I would have eaten more than that! This stuff is poison!
mynyadventure 7:06 pm on June 5, 2006 Permalink |
Oh my gosh! A well-meaning co-worker brought me a bag of fat-free, sugar free candy from a candy store, and although I don’t have the ingredient list, I can tell you this stuff must have Malitol in it! I have never heard such sounds from my digestive tract! I’m in New York City, and it’s time for me to leave work, but I’m afraid to get on the subway for fear of my offensive odors! I have a funky taste in my mouth too. The irony in this is… i would eat this stuff for the purpose of losing, or not gaining weight, but on a normal day, I would also be heading to the gym right now – but I CAN’T go to the gym because of effects of the sugar-free candy! So, a cautionary tale for those of you choosing Malitol -laden candy for weight control … NOT a good trade-off!
Weezie 2:23 pm on June 15, 2006 Permalink |
Optimist, sorry…it just gets worse. I have had many nasty bouts with Maltitol, each time hoping I could go the sugar-free way and live. Not so! This last time, it was some umimpressive sugarr-free cookies that took me down. It’s been two weeks! That’s a high price to pay for 10 minutes of stuffing your face. Yeah, I’m not kidding. I’ve had diarrhea for two weeks and counting. The violence of this attack and the longevity of it suggest that further indulgence could kill me. Do you know what two weeks of diarrhea does to a person? I’ve been on clear liquids for two days and it still hasn’t stopped. I can’t make it to bathroom in time..is that graphic enough? And no one to be mad at except myself. That sucks! You only get my sensitive and more reactive. That’s my experience. It’s a poison!!!
wildsissy 5:07 pm on June 19, 2006 Permalink |
Yeah, I had the same gremilin effect as well. I had 10 sugar free Jelly Belly’s on Sat night read the warning and waited 24 hours. Had no effects so finished off the 2 serving bag (probably about 50 more beans) and within the next couple hours was in major pain. Unfortunately I was at my husband grandparents house, an hour drive from home that wound up taking an hour and half because I had to stop so many times. I was describing my experience as the scene in Dumb and Dumber when the guy gives the other guy a laxative and he BLOWS up the girls “broken bathroom”. The sounds were very similar, it was really bad.
Nicole 8:58 pm on June 19, 2006 Permalink |
Over 24 hours. The pain only ended when I took Immodium. Sugar Free Jelly Belly’s: they were the first food I ate that day (and the last), so at least I figured it out before eating another package. Stomach making demonic noises, bloated out to —> there, and at the toilet every 20 minutes. The sound effects were horrific. I had to leave class 6 times in 3 hours, and am now confined to my apt.
Needless to say, I am NEVER taking that devil substance again. I am also no longer going to make fun of scenes in movies with diarrhea, or laugh at anti-diarrheal commercials: it is a pain, not funny at all, that I wish on nobody.
Immodium is working wonders, and also drinking water all day.
spriggy 1:56 am on July 16, 2006 Permalink |
I gave my boss some of the Russell Stover jelly beans and she spent the entire evening in the bathroom. I hadn’t associated maltitol with the symptoms until then. So I’ve been very careful to read the ingredients on sugar free candy, cookies and ice cream since then. However, I was fooled by some that showed they were sweetened with Splenda on the front of the package (such as the Russell Stove mint patties). When the volcanic reaction began, I went back to the small print and found that, sure enough, maltitol was also one of the ingredients. I feel like they purposely tricked me my putting Splenda on the front of the package. I don’t know if it builds up in your system, but I feel like I’m more sensitive to its effects now than I was the first few times I used it.
John 6:54 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink |
Well it’s years late, but I’ve had the same effect as Weezie. Bought these Voortman sugar free cookies, ate 8/10 of them within the night, and ended up having diarrhea for the next couple weeks. After the first few days, it got better, but it was loose stool for over two weeks. Read the ingredients: Maltitol, Sorbitol & Something else. I’d avoid these cookies like the black plague!
Elva Jean 11:14 am on July 5, 2013 Permalink |
Recently tried a thinkThin Protein Bar, thinking that they might make for a good snack to have on hand while traveling. I’m usually a pro at reading labels due to my issues with non-nutritive sweeteners. This bar was free of the usual suspects (aspartame, sucralose) but did contain maltitol (11g in the bar I tried), which I somehow overlooked. Thankfully my reaction to consuming sugar alcohols isn’t violent (no diarrhea or vomiting) but I did have a fair amount of cramping and gas. I will not be trying these bars again and will certainly be more diligent when reading labels.