Sugar Alcohols and Calories

[ajangel25]

Hi!

Recently I was looking at some Vitamin Water Zero's (flavored water sweetened with stevia and erythritol. According to the package, it is zero calories, but 4 g of carbohydrates (less than 1 gram sugar- I'm assuming the carbs are from the erythritol.) Do sugar alcohols such as erythritol contribute calories and carbs? If you did the multiplying of 4 x 4, that would equal 12 calories, not 0. Any input? :)

[in10city]

Hi!

Recently I was looking at some Vitamin Water Zero's (flavored water sweetened with stevia and erythritol. According to the package, it is zero calories, but 4 g of carbohydrates (less than 1 gram sugar- I'm assuming the carbs are from the erythritol.) Do sugar alcohols such as erythritol contribute calories and carbs? If you did the multiplying of 4 x 4, that would equal 12 calories, not 0. Any input? :)
Sugar alcohols are included in the 'Total Carbohydrates' line item, but the number is actually derived from the 'difference method'. But the caloric value of erythritol is .2 kcal/g. Per FDA labeling guidelines, the 'Calories' line item can be determined using the actual caloric value of the components instead of using the standard 4,4,9 Atwater factors. Plus if the calculated number of calories per serving is less than 5, it can be labeled as zero calories.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?FR=101.9

[Emma-Leigh]

Hi!

Recently I was looking at some Vitamin Water Zero's (flavored water sweetened with stevia and erythritol. According to the package, it is zero calories, but 4 g of carbohydrates (less than 1 gram sugar- I'm assuming the carbs are from the erythritol.) Do sugar alcohols such as erythritol contribute calories and carbs? If you did the multiplying of 4 x 4, that would equal 12 calories, not 0. Any input? :)
As mentioned above, there are calories in sugar alcohols (the different sugar alcohols having different calorie contents). The reason why it is listed as zero calories is due to labeling laws.

A few other threads with more info/ links:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=348273311&highlight=sugar+alcohol#post348273311

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=45570351&highlight=sugar+alcohol#post45570351