Category: sweetener
Aliases: E966, Lactit, Lactositol, Lactobiosit, Lactitol monohydrate, 4-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-D-glucitol, 4-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-D-sorbitol
A disaccharide polyol (galactose β-1,4-linked to glucitol) used as a reduced-calorie bulk sweetener, roughly 0.3–0.4x as sweet as sucrose. Resistant to salivary and small-intestinal disaccharidases and essentially unabsorbed, so it delivers negligible glycemic/insulinemic load and only ~2 kcal/g. The unabsorbed sugar alcohol reaches the colon, where it is osmotically active and fermented by resident microbiota to short-chain fatty acids, CO2 and H2 — the basis of its laxative use. As a pharmaceutical it mirrors [[lactulose]]: colonic acidification lowers luminal pH, trapping ammonia as non-diffusible NH4+ for fecal excretion, lowering blood ammonia in hepatic encephalopathy. Excess intake draws water into the lumen, producing the dose-dependent osmotic diarrhea and flatulence characteristic of polyols.