Maltitol: analysis, food uses, metabolism and health effects
What it found
In people, maltitol caused smaller rises in blood sugar and insulin than the same amount of glucose or sucrose, and it did not feed the mouth bacteria that cause tooth decay.
At high doses it caused diarrhoea.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood sugar and insulin
A single 50 g dose of maltitol in healthy people led to much smaller rises in blood sugar and insulin than the same amount of glucose or sucrose. Similar results were seen in people with diabetes given 30 or 50 g.
Digestive tolerance
Adults can eat up to 40 g of maltitol a day and children 15 g without noticeable symptoms. Eating more can cause diarrhoea, bloating and stomach pain, and products with more than 10% added maltitol must carry a laxative warning.
Gut bacteria
A dose of 34.2 g of maltitol plus polydextrose raised levels of bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and short-chain fatty acids in stool compared with sucrose. The authors say there is not yet enough data to pin down maltitol's specific effects on gut bacteria.
Studies in people and animals
Tooth decay
Maltitol is not fermented by mouth bacteria, so it does not feed tooth decay. Chewing gum with maltitol every day reduced some bacteria in plaque that are among the first to settle on teeth.
Other findings
Measuring maltitol in food
High-performance liquid chromatography is the main method used to measure maltitol in foods, and it works across many types of product. Capillary electrophoresis is a cheaper alternative but less robust.
Food industry uses
Maltitol is about 75 to 90% as sweet as sucrose and has 2.1 to 2.4 kcal per gram. It is used in chocolate, baked goods, sweets, chewing gum, ice cream and dairy drinks, often as a one-for-one replacement for sugar.
What the authors conclude
“According to our main research outcome, we can assume that maltitol at lower doses poses little risk to humans and is a good alternative to using sucrose.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that at lower doses maltitol poses little risk to humans and is a good alternative to sucrose, but that it causes diarrhoea and foetal complications at high doses.
- They say its future role in the food industry is likely to become more relevant as processors seek alternative sweeteners without compromising health.
- They note that more studies are needed on maltitol's specific effects on gut bacteria.
How it was done
Very little work on maltitol could be found in the literature, so the authors set out to review how it is measured in foods, how it is used by the food industry, how the body handles it, and what it does to health.
The authors pulled together published studies on maltitol, covering lab methods for measuring it in foods, its use in products such as chocolate, bakery goods, sweets and dairy, its breakdown in the body, and its effects on health. The studies they drew on included people, rats and lab tests.
What it can’t tell you
- Some of the evidence comes from rats and lab tests, which cannot show what happens in people.
- The review pulls together studies that used different doses, foods and lengths of time, so it cannot give one clear dose-response picture.
- It cannot show whether regularly eating maltitol over years changes long-term health.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Faculty of Veterinary, Spain; University of Lapland, Finland; University of Coimbra, Portugal
The paper
- Title
- Maltitol: Analytical Determination Methods, Applications in the Food Industry, Metabolism and Health Impacts
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Saraiva A, Carrascosa C, Raheem D, Ramos F, Raposo A (2020). Maltitol: Analytical Determination Methods, Applications in the Food Industry, Metabolism and Health Impacts. International journal of environmental research and public health. doi:10.3390/ijerph17145227Free full textPubMed 32698373DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error