You buy a chocolate bar or a dessert with no added sugar, eat it, and a few hours later your stomach feels uncomfortable. The obvious conclusion is that the sweetener must be the problem.
Sometimes it may be part of the explanation. Sometimes it is not.
Products with no added sugar can be made with very different ingredients. One may contain erythritol, another maltitol, while a third may use a completely different sweetening system. Fibre, dried fruit, nuts, portion size and the combination of several foods during the day can matter too.
So before deciding that “no-added-sugar sweets don't agree with me”, it is worth looking a little closer at what you actually ate.
Start with the ingredient list, not the claim on the front
“No added sugar” tells you something useful, but it does not describe the whole recipe.
A product carrying this claim may still contain sweeteners and may also contain sugars naturally present in ingredients such as fruit or nuts. Under EU rules, “no added sugar” and “sugar-free” are two different claims.
If digestive discomfort keeps appearing after certain products, turn the pack around and look for the ingredient doing the sweetening.
Names you may come across include:
- erythritol;
- maltitol or maltitol syrup;
- sorbitol;
- xylitol;
- mannitol;
- isomalt;
- lactitol.
These belong to the family known as polyols, or sugar alcohols.
You do not need to memorise the list. The useful part is recognising that “sweetener” is not one single ingredient.
Different sweeteners can mean a different experience
If one no-added-sugar chocolate feels fine and another does not, that does not necessarily contradict anything.
The two recipes may use completely different sweeteners.
Erythritol is E968. Maltitol is E965. Sorbitol is E420. Xylitol is E967. They are all polyols, but they are not the same substance and they are not absorbed in exactly the same way.
That is why it is more useful to say:
“I ate a product containing maltitol”
than simply:
“I ate something sugar-free.”
You now have a detail you can actually compare the next time the same thing happens.
Portion size is often the missing part of the story
This may be the most practical thing to check.
Three pieces of chocolate and most of the pack are not the same amount of food. Neither are one teaspoon of spread and several large spoonfuls.
If the product contains a polyol, increasing the portion also increases the amount of that polyol you consume.
And there may be more than one source during the day. Chocolate, chewing gum, a protein bar and another sweet snack can all contribute to the total amount.
This is also why foods containing more than 10% added polyols carry the EU warning that excessive consumption may have a laxative effect. It is a warning about quantity, not a statement that everyone eating the product will experience digestive symptoms.
What about erythritol?
Erythritol deserves a separate mention because it is now common in products designed without added sugar.
It is a polyol, identified as E968. EFSA reassessed erythritol in 2023 and concluded that the warning about possible laxative effects from excessive consumption should remain. The assessment also emphasises that the digestive response depends on exposure rather than suggesting that ordinary consumption inevitably causes symptoms.
In practical terms, there is little value in labelling erythritol either “good” or “bad”.
A more useful question is:
How much did I eat, and does the same reaction happen repeatedly with products containing it?
The same principle applies to maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol and other polyols.
The sweetener may not be the only ingredient worth checking
Suppose you eat a no-added-sugar cookie and feel bloated afterwards.
You spot erythritol in the ingredient list and decide you have found the culprit.
Maybe. But keep reading.
The same cookie could also contain a large amount of added fibre, dried fruit, several types of nuts or a combination of ingredients you do not usually eat together. You may also simply have eaten a larger portion than usual.
This is particularly relevant with products marketed as high-fibre or functional snacks. Ingredients such as added fibres can change the digestive experience even when the sweetener stays exactly the same.
Looking at the complete recipe gives you a much better starting point than isolating the first unfamiliar ingredient.
How to find out what you tolerate better
You do not need to start an elaborate elimination diet after one uncomfortable afternoon.
Try something much simpler.
The next time it happens, note what product you ate, how much you ate and which sweetener appeared in the ingredient list.
Then look for repetition.
If several products that caused the same problem all contain maltitol, that is useful information. If the products contain completely different sweeteners but were all eaten in very large portions, that tells you something else.
It can also help to check what else you ate around the same time.
A very basic note on your phone is enough:
product – portion – sweetener – symptoms
After several occasions, you may start to see a pattern.
Change one thing at a time
If you suspect a particular product, the least useful response is often to remove ten categories of food at once.
You stop eating polyols, gluten, fruit, nuts and anything high in fibre - and then feel better. But you have no idea which change actually mattered.
Instead, keep the rest of your routine reasonably stable and change one thing.
For example, compare two similar snacks using different sweeteners, or simply reduce the serving of the same product.
You are looking for a repeatable pattern, not trying to pass or fail individual foods after a single test.
“Sweetener” does not automatically mean “polyol”
This distinction is worth knowing when reading labels.
Erythritol, maltitol, sorbitol and xylitol are polyols.
Steviol glycosides and sucralose are sweeteners too, but they belong to different categories.
EFSA assesses authorised sweeteners individually, which is another reason not to treat them as one interchangeable group.
So when comparing products, look at the actual name of the ingredient rather than simply checking whether the word “sweetener” appears.
What should you compare between two products?
Imagine two chocolates both labelled “no added sugar”.
Instead of assuming they are nutritionally or digestively equivalent, compare:
The sweetener. Is it erythritol, maltitol, another polyol or something else?
The serving. How much are you realistically going to eat?
The complete ingredient list. Are there added fibres, dried fruits or several other ingredients that may matter to you?
The nutrition table. “No added sugar” does not necessarily mean zero naturally occurring sugars.
Any additional warning on the pack. In products with a high enough proportion of added polyols, the laxative-effect statement is particularly useful if you already know that large quantities cause you problems.
The same logic applies when browsing the Bett’r no-added-sugar range: the category describes a shared characteristic, not one identical recipe.
What if you know you want to avoid polyols?
Then the shopping part becomes straightforward.
Read the ingredients and look for erythritol, maltitol, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, isomalt or lactitol.
But there is an important second step: check what replaced them.
A sweet without polyols is not automatically lower in calories, lower in carbohydrates or easier to digest. It may use another sweetener or ingredients that contain naturally occurring sugars.
This is why the best choice depends on your actual goal.
Avoiding an ingredient that you know you do not tolerate is one goal. Reducing added sugar is another. Reducing calories is another again.
They do not necessarily lead to the same product.
And if you have IBS?
People with irritable bowel syndrome may be particularly interested in this conversation because polyols form one part of the wider FODMAP group discussed in IBS nutrition.
But IBS is highly individual. It does not automatically mean removing every polyol or every food containing fermentable carbohydrates.
The Romanian Society of Neurogastroenterology recommends an individualised approach to dietary management, and restrictive low-FODMAP diets are intended to be followed by food reintroduction and personalisation rather than permanent blanket avoidance.
You can read more in our guide to diet and foods for irritable bowel syndrome.
When bloating keeps happening
Food labels are useful for spotting patterns, but they cannot tell you why persistent bloating is happening.
If the symptom becomes frequent, painful or is accompanied by significant changes in bowel habits or other unusual symptoms, talk to a doctor rather than continuing to remove more foods on your own.
The goal is not to build an increasingly long list of foods you are afraid to eat. It is to understand whether there is actually a repeatable trigger.
Frequently asked questions
Can erythritol cause bloating?
Digestive tolerance varies. EFSA's reassessment of erythritol recognises digestive effects at sufficiently high intakes and retains the warning about laxative effects from excessive consumption. Portion size therefore matters.
Can maltitol cause digestive discomfort?
Maltitol is a polyol. As with other polyols, tolerance depends partly on the amount consumed and on the individual.
Is stevia a polyol?
No. Steviol glycosides are sweeteners but are not sugar alcohols.
Does “no added sugar” mean “sugar-free”?
No. A product without added sugar can still contain sugars naturally present in its ingredients.
Should I avoid every polyol if one product makes me feel bloated?
Not necessarily. Check the specific sweetener, the portion and whether the same reaction occurs repeatedly before making a broad conclusion.
Why does a product say that excessive consumption may have a laxative effect?
EU labelling rules require this statement when a food contains more than 10% added polyols. The key word is excessive.
