Category: sweetener
Aliases: E965, Maltit, Maltite, D-Maltitol, 4-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-D-glucitol, 4-O-alpha-glucopyranosyl-D-sorbitol
Disaccharide polyol — D-glucose linked α-1,4 to D-sorbitol (glucose + sorbitol core) — used as a bulk sugar substitute at ~75-90% the sweetness of sucrose with roughly half the calories. Resists salivary/pancreatic amylase but is slowly cleaved by intestinal brush-border maltase-type α-glucosidases and disaccharidases, releasing glucose (insulin-raising) plus sorbitol; net absorption is incomplete, so it carries the highest glycemic index of the common polyols. The unabsorbed fraction reaches the colon, where it draws water osmotically and is fermented by gut microbiota to short-chain fatty acids and gas, producing the characteristic bloating and laxative effect above tolerance. Approved as food additive E965 (maltitol E965i, maltitol syrup E965ii); non-cariogenic since oral streptococci cannot ferment it to acid.
Bulk sweetener E965; ~75-90% as sweet as sucrose at ~2.1 kcal/g. JECFA/EFSA assign "ADI not specified" (regarded as safe); chief flag is dose-dependent osmotic/laxative GI effects (gas, bloating, diarrhea) and the highest glycemic/insulinemic response among the sugar alcohols, so it is not glucose-neutral for diabetics.