From a chemical point of view, erythritol is a polyol . Polyols are widely used by manufacturers of low-calorie foods and drinks. Unlike the most common ones (xylitol, sorbitol and maltitol among them), erythritol contains only 6% of the calories of sugar, despite having a very high sweetening power. In this regard, to clarify the difference between erythritol and stevia , it is enough to know that the latter has a sweetening power up to 300 times greater than sucrose (common table sugar). That of erythritol instead reaches 70%. The former is also associated with possible health risks, in particular hypotension and hypoglycemia.
