When Sweet Simplicity — a new sweetener on the market — sent me some samples, I thought I’d do a super-informative post about sweeteners in general.
Then I realized someone’d already done that. Namely, OrangeClouds115 via her Vegetables of Mass Destruction series. She has an illuminating post about sugar and good sugar alternatives, and a follow-up about artificial sweeteners, which she doesn’t recommend. (Both posts are fascinating reads and highly recommended for anyone with a sweet tooth!)
Where does Sweet Simplicity fit in? That was tough for me to figure out.
This newbie’s touted “all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener” that’s made of erythritol, “an all-natural sugar found in grapes, pears and even some soy products and the fruit sugar fructose,” according to the fact sheet.
The company sez making erythritol’s “similar to making cheese from milk and wine from grapes.” The problem is that the company behind Sweet Simplicity’s a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merisant. And Merisant’s the maker of Equal, which is very much an artificial sweetener. Hmmm…
But more positively, Whole Foods and Wild Oats are selling Sweet Simplicity — which sorta helps out with the “all-natural” claim. And the green Stonyfield farm has a whole info sheet about how erythritol’s natural.
So a couple weeks ago, I asked the PR rep why Sweet Simplicity — if natural and clearly seeking the LOHAS crowd — isn’t organic, and if the product is going for organic certification — and if not, why not. I’m waiting to hear back.
In the meantime — Anyone reading have an opinion on erythritol?
Update, 9/20/06: I asked about organic certification, and heard back: “Sweet Simplicity is working with their production facilities to meet these standards in order to achieve organic certification status, which will hopefully happen in the very near future.” Cool :)
I’ve tried erythritol a few times, including straight. It doesn’t really taste like sugar and I’m not sure you can use it in high heat cooking. It has a rather cool taste, like xylitol but definitely sweet.
I really detest artificial sweeteners but find the sugar alcohols like mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol to be more in line with “natural” as in, my body recognizes it. So they’re a good alternative for people with dietary restrictions. Erythritol doesn’t have the same unpleasant effect that sorbitol does, so that’s good news.
The big thing about artificial sweeteners, especially the non-caloric ones is that it tricks the brain and readjusts our saiety index, which can make losing weight very difficult for some folks.
Comment by cybele — September 10, 2006 @ 12:36 pm
Interesting first-hand experience! But in your opinion, is erythritol a “natural” sweetener or an artificial one?
Comment by Siel — September 11, 2006 @ 9:52 pm
I don’t know how to define natural, but it is a chemical that appears in nature and our bodies know how to deal with it and has not been shown to have any adverse effects.
Without knowing how they make it, I can’t say. If they’re just taking some juice or sugar water and adding some yeasts or microbes to create it, I’d say it’s natural. I don’t consider High Fructose Corn Sweetener natural.
Comment by cybele — September 13, 2006 @ 12:08 pm
That’s helpful! Thanks :) As a gal who doesn’t even do sugar much, I’m not sure aI’ll be doing erythritol much — but it does sound a helluva lot betterh than high fructose corn syrup –
Comment by Siel — September 13, 2006 @ 10:25 pm