Maltitol

Icon Foods supplies bulk maltitol to food and beverage manufacturers across North America in three NF-grade forms: powder, crystalline, and syrup. Kosher certified, Non-GMO, vegan, and allergen-free, shipping from our Portland, Oregon facility.

Maltitol is the closest polyol to sucrose in both sweetness and behavior. At roughly 90% the sweetness of sugar it needs almost no compensation, and it browns, bodies, and crystallizes in ways most sugar alternatives cannot. That combination is why it remains the backbone of sugar-free chocolate and confectionery despite never being the fashionable choice.

What Is Maltitol?

Maltitol is a disaccharide polyol, produced by the hydrogenation of maltose derived from starch. Chemically it is 4-O-alpha-glucopyranosyl-D-glucitol, CAS 585-88-6.

Because it is only partially absorbed, it contributes roughly 2.1 kcal per gram against sucrose's 4, while retaining most of sugar's functional behavior. It carries no cooling effect, unlike erythritol and xylitol, which is a significant advantage in chocolate and dairy systems where cooling reads as a defect.

Maltitol Specifications

Three forms, each suited to different systems.

MLT1075™ NF Grade Maltitol Syrup, full specification

Maltitol is water soluble and soluble in most food grade solvents, and stable under normal conditions of use. It is highly hydrophilic, with a partition coefficient of approximately negative 3.3.

Maltitol Powder and Crystalline

The solid grades are where maltitol earns its reputation. At roughly 90% the sweetness of sucrose they need almost no sweetness compensation, which means a formulation converts without rebuilding the sweetener architecture around it.

MLT1150™ NF Grade Maltitol Powder is the fine-mesh grade, suited to chocolate, coatings, compound, and anywhere dissolution rate and mouthfeel are judged directly. MLT1100™ NF Grade Maltitol Crystalline is the standard crystal, suited to panning, tabletop, and dry blends where crystal structure does the work.

Both provide bulk, body, and predictable crystallization. Neither browns. Neither carries the cooling effect that erythritol and xylitol bring. In sugar-free chocolate specifically, that combination is why maltitol remains difficult to replace.

Maltitol Syrup

Maltitol syrup is the form most formulators underuse, and it does work no crystalline sweetener can.

In bars, chews and caramels, the syrup is structural. It binds, it controls water activity, it prevents graining, and it delivers the chewy body a reduced-sugar bar loses when you remove corn syrup or glucose syrup. At approximately 65% the sweetness of sucrose it also lets you build sweetness elsewhere in the system while the syrup carries the texture.

Practical notes. At 3 to 8 Pa·s the syrup is viscous enough to need warming for accurate pumping and metering. Water content up to 31.5% must be accounted for in your total moisture balance. And unlike glucose syrup, it contributes essentially no reducing sugars, which means it does not brown, so pair it with something that does if color development matters.

More on MLT1075™ NF Grade Maltitol Syrup and where it fits in reduced-sugar systems.

Formulating With Maltitol

No cooling effect

This is maltitol's main advantage over erythritol and xylitol. Both of those carry a pronounced cooling sensation from their high negative heat of solution. Maltitol's is minimal. In chocolate, dairy, baked goods and anywhere the cooling reads as a defect rather than a feature, maltitol solves a problem the other polyols create.

Sugar-like behavior

At roughly 90% the sweetness of sucrose, the powder and crystalline grades need very little sweetness compensation. They crystallize, they provide bulk and body, and they behave predictably in tempering and panning. That is why maltitol became the standard in sugar-free chocolate and remains difficult to replace.

Digestive tolerance is the real constraint

Maltitol is less well tolerated than erythritol. It is a disaccharide polyol, only partially absorbed in the small intestine, and the unabsorbed fraction ferments in the large intestine. That is the mechanism behind the laxation warning on many sugar-free products.

This is a dose relationship, not a binary. Tolerance depends on the amount consumed in a serving, what it is consumed with, and the individual. It is the single most important thing to model when setting inclusion levels, and it is the reason maltitol works better in a chocolate square than in a large portion.

Our paper on hydroxyl groups, osmosis, and bowel tolerance in polyols works through the underlying chemistry and how to set realistic use levels.

Glycemic response

Maltitol has a lower glycemic impact than sucrose but is not glycemically inert the way erythritol and allulose are. For products making blood-sugar claims, that difference matters and should be modeled rather than assumed.

Applications

Sugar does more than sweeten. In a working formula it delivers bulk, structure, browning, moisture retention and crystallization control, and any reformulation has to account for all of them. Our breakdown of the five jobs of sugar in baking covers the framework. Maltitol replaces more of those jobs than most alternatives.

Chocolate and confectionery

Maltitol's core application, and the one where its advantages compound. Sugar-like crystallization, no cooling effect, and reliable tempering behavior. Panned confections in particular benefit from the crystalline grade. Our field guide to panned confections covers maltitol, isomalt and erythritol in coating systems. See confectionery applications.

Protein and nutrition bars

The syrup is the workhorse here, providing binding, chew, and water activity control. See baked goods and bars.

Chews and caramels

Maltitol syrup delivers the texture and cook behavior that reduced-sugar chews otherwise lose.

Coatings and compound

Powder and crystalline grades perform in coatings, compound chocolate, and enrobing systems.

Baked goods

Maltitol provides bulk and structure without browning. Where Maillard color matters, pair it with tagatose or allulose, both of which brown readily.

Maltitol Compared to Other Polyols

Maltitol and isomalt are frequently paired, since isomalt's low hygroscopicity complements maltitol's body. Our analysis of why isomalt and maltitol are the post-erythritol pairing covers the case in detail.

Maltitol After Erythritol

Erythritol has taken headline damage since 2023, and antidumping duties have materially changed its cost position. Formulators reformulating away from it usually discover the same thing: nothing else offers erythritol's tolerance profile, and nothing else is as cheap.

Maltitol is not a like-for-like replacement. It has lower digestive tolerance and a real glycemic contribution. What it does offer is sugar-like sweetness without compensation, no cooling effect, and crystallization behavior that erythritol cannot match in chocolate.

The practical answer is usually a system rather than a swap. See the polyol pivot and our coverage of the erythritol reckoning.

Maltitol as a Sugar Alcohol: Labeling and Declaration

Maltitol is a sugar alcohol, also called a polyol. That category includes erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, isomalt, and mannitol, and they behave differently enough that the shared label term can be misleading.

What they have in common is how they declare. On a Nutrition Facts Panel, sugar alcohols count toward Total Carbohydrate and appear on the Sugar Alcohol subline where the manufacturer chooses to declare it or where a claim makes it mandatory. Maltitol contributes 0 g total sugars and 0 g added sugars.

Where they differ is caloric contribution and tolerance. Maltitol delivers more usable energy than erythritol, which is very nearly calorie-free, and correspondingly less digestive headroom. For a product making a low-carbohydrate or blood-sugar claim, those differences drive the math and should be modeled per formulation rather than assumed from the category.

Products containing significant sugar alcohol may require a laxation statement depending on inclusion level and serving size. Confirm requirements for your specific product and market with your regulatory team.

On an ingredient statement, maltitol declares by name. The syrup declares as maltitol syrup.

Supply and Documentation

Icon Foods maltitol is manufactured in China and ships from our Portland, Oregon facility, which operates under Oregon Department of Agriculture Food Safety Division establishment #88294 and is a registered FDA food manufacturing facility.

Every order includes certificate of analysis, safety data sheet, technical data sheet, country of origin statement, and allergen statement. More on sourcing and documentation.

Custom Blends

Maltitol rarely works alone in a modern reduced-sugar system. Pairing it with a high-intensity sweetener, a bulking agent with better tolerance, or a fiber to manage the dose is usually where a project lands. We build those systems in-house. See custom blends and formulation support.

Request a Sample

Tell us the application and we will recommend a form. If the syrup does the job we will say so rather than selling you three grades. Samples ship in 24 to 48 hours with full documentation, and we hold no minimum order quantity.