Is Erythritol safe to use?

Erythritol is a common sweetener. Approved by the FDA and EFSA, the sweetener is safe to consume. Recently, a study was published in which the consumption of Erythritol by people with cardiovascular disease was linked to blood clotting, strokes and heart attacks. Please note, however, no causal relationship was showed! Although this study did not take into account other possible factors such as diet, etc., which will have to be investigated at a later date, many people are now questioning the safety of Erythritol. In this blog, we will tell you more about this and why you can continue to consume Erythritol as usual.

What is Erythritol?

Erythritol is a sweetener of natural origin. It is also known as a sugar alcohol or polyol. Erythritol is extracted from fruits, wheat, corn or from fermented products like wine, cheese or mushrooms. A crystallization process creates a product similar to granulated sugar. Erythritol has 70% sweetening power compared to sugar. In addition, Erythritol occurs naturally in small amounts in the human body.

Research on risks of Erythritol consumption

Recently, a new study by the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute was published. This study linked Erythritol consumption of people with cardiovascular problems to blood clotting, strokes and heart attacks. Logically, this raises many questions for many users of the sweetener.

The study followed test subjects between the ages of 60 and 70 with pre-existing heart conditions. The study concluded that patients with pre-existing risk factors would be twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke if they had the highest level of Erythritol in their blood.

However, as acknowledged in the study's conclusion, this study leaves out other factors, such as lifestyle and diet. These factors were not included in the final results of this study. For example, should the test subjects, who already have an elevated risk factor, also have an unhealthy lifestyle, this was not included in the study. In addition, this group of test subjects is also not representative of the general population. Thus, as the authors of the study themselves announce, much more research is needed on this topic.

Is Erythritol safe?

Yes, Erythritol is safe to consume according to the ADI and thus not dangerous. Furthermore, Erythritol from Steviala is a sweetener of natural origin. Contrary to what the article writes, they write about artificial sweeteners. Erythritol sweetener from Steviala is extracted from organically grown corn. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the sweetener back in 1997. In 2006, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) followed and approved the sweetener for the European market as well. Years of numerous studies show that Erythritol sweetener can be safely consumed, with a General Daily Intake of 0.66 grams of Erythritol per kg of body weight to prevent any laxative effect.

What tastes sweet and is good?

We from Steviala prefer a balanced lifestyle, which means: vary your food and balancing your diet. Consuming too many sweeteners or sugars, we say no to that. And there is sugar in almost everything you eat, just think of a banana that contains naturally occurring sugars. A person needs sugar, but just not too much! But isn't that true with everything in life? No excess!!! Eating a hamburger once in a while is fine, but we prefer not to do that every day either!