FAQ

What is Xylitol?

Xylitol is a sweetener that occurs naturally. It tastes like sugar and can be found virtually in all fruits and vegetables. The average adult consumes about several hundred milligrams of xylitol from fruits and vegetables each day.

Where does Ausweet xylitol come from?

Birch Trees and Corncobs are the main sources for commercially produced xylitol. Ausweet xylitol is produced from corncobs, widely consumed all around the world. Our xylitol is Kosher and HACCP certified and approved by FDA and FSANZ.

How does xylitol differ from other sweeteners?

Chemically speaking, xylitol is not actually a sugar, but a sugar alcohol. It differs from other sweeteners such as fructose and glucose because the xylitol molecule has five, instead of six, carbon atoms. Most bacteria are unable to make use of such sugars. This is a reason why xylitol is so effective in preventing cavities.

What about in tea and coffee?

It is perfect in tea and coffee & your own recipes, spoon for spoon as sweet as sugar, depending on taste.

What is the calorie content compared to sugar?

Xylitol has 40% fewer calories than “regular” sugar, approximately 14kj per gram.

What is the carbohydrate content compared to sugar?

Xylitol contains 75% fewer carbohydrates than the “regular” sugar.

What does xylitol taste and look like?

Xylitol tastes and looks just like sugar. If you were to put a small amount on your tongue by itself, you would notice a very pleasant slightly cooling, minty aftertaste as the only difference from sugar. This pleasant aftertaste is one of the many reasons why more and more food manufacturers love to use xylitol in their products.

Can you use it to cook?

Yes, xylitol is a perfect substitute to sugar for most cooking applications. Since yeast cannot metabolize it, xylitol will not work when baking breads or anything that contains yeast.

Although xylitol is just as sweet as sugar, we recommend that you try a little less xylitol to what you would use of sugar and then adjust from there. Some people use a little less and some like a bit more sweetness – it’s up to you!

Is xylitol safe?

Yes it is. The safety of xylitol has been proven in long-term clinical studies and has been confirmed by all the major regulatory bodies worldwide. Xylitol is approved for use in food and especially in oral hygiene products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Currently xylitol is approved in more than 60 countries.

Xylitol has been evaluated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), Joint Expert Committee of Food Additives (JEFCA) and the EU Scientific Committee for Food (SCF). JEFCA allocated an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for xylitol of “Not Specified”, which represents the safest category into which JEFCA can allocate a food additive.

Xylitol has been approved for food within the European Union (EU) since 1994. The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has approved xylitol for use in “foods for special dietary purposes”. The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has approved the use of xylitol for food application since 1997.