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Sweeteners are a matter of personal preference. The spectrum of opinions on this topic range from “anything is better than sugar” to “you should never eat anything sweet again”. I fall more in the middle. I think a little sweet here and there can be beneficial if it keeps you on course. Keeping that in mind, I do have my favorites and not-so-favorites. Sugar alcohols tend to fall in the latter category, although I realize some are worse than others.
Today I’m going to talk about a lesser-evil sweetener: Xylitol. Well, it’s a lesser-evil for most people. Pets on the other hand, not so much, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
I recently had the opportunity to try XyloSweet, which is 100% pure xylitol. That’s it, no other ingredients. There are no fillers, flow agents or other additives. As you may remember, simple ingredient lists make my heart skip a beat. It’s also gluten free, sugar free, low carb, and non-GMO. Again, be still my beating heart.
XyloSweet tastes like sugar and has a crystalline appearance and texture. Straight from the packet, it dissolves quickly on the tongue. It does leave a slight cooling sensation when tasted alone, but I’ve not noticed any cooling when used in recipes or drinks. In small amounts it’s given my somewhat sensitive stomach no problems. I’ve not pushed my luck with larger amounts yet. The box does caution that xylitol requires a brief tolerance adjustment by being used in gradually increasing increments over a three to six week period. Obviously this is a sweetener you’ll need to use with caution until you know how you’ll react to it.
Heat-stable for cooking and baking, it also mixes and dissolves much like regular sugar. Keep in mind that XyloSweet will not feed yeast, aiding in rising in breads or pastry dough, nor is it a good choice for making hard candies.
Most importantly, understand that xylitol is toxic for pets, especially dogs. If you use this product in any of your cooking please keep those items away from your pets. My cat is not only very curious, but too smart for her own good. I keep this product high in the cabinet, behind all my other sweeteners, just in case. Anything made with this product is also kept in the refrigerator or sealed, pet proof container. She probably wouldn’t even give it a second glance, but I’m not taking chances. My dogs on the other hand, will eat pretty much anything, so there is certainly a danger there and I have to be careful.
Nutritional Facts
- Serving Size 1 packet (4g)
- Servings Per Container 100
- Calories 9.6
- Total Fat 0g
- Saturated Fat 0g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 0g
- Sodium 0mg
- Total Carbohydrate 4g*
- Dietary Fiber 0g*
- Sugars 0g
- Sugar Alcohol 4g*
- Protein 0g
Ingredients: 100% Xylitol – Pharmaceutical Grade.
*Net carbs as listed by the manufacturer = 0g per serving.
Over all I give this product 4 1/2 stars. It’s tasty, simple and works well in many recipes. It’s a sugar alcohol, but doesn’t seem to belong in the same category of the socially offensive maltitol. This is a mileage-may-vary item, so take it slowly and gauge your reaction.
Disclosure: I was provided this product free of charge in order to review it. It in no way affected my opinion of the product.
© 2011 by Amy Dungan. Article and photograph used by kind permission of the author. Send Amy your comments to Amy Dungan.
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