Maltitol (E965)
Sweeteners · Sugar Alcohols
The laxative warning printed on sugar-free chocolate is usually there because of maltitol, and the FODMAP data says much the same thing in a different language. One teaspoon is rated red, scored at 1.5 g in the sorbitol group, three times the 0.5 g level at which a polyol makes a portion high. Almost nobody meets it by the spoon, though; it comes in bar form.
Last updated 4 September 2026Serving sizes for maltitol (e965)
The tested amount is a single teaspoon, rated red on 1.5 g in the sorbitol group.
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 1 tsp | Sorbitol 1.5 g |
Breakdown for 1 teaspoon
Is maltitol (e965) low FODMAP?
Maltitol is built from maltose, and digestion splits it into glucose and sorbitol, which is why the teaspoon is scored at 1.5 g in that group rather than in a column of its own. Only some of it is taken up before the small intestine ends. The remainder goes on to the large bowel, holds water there and gets fermented, and that is the mechanism behind the sentence on the wrapper about excessive consumption. It is also the mechanism behind bloating and wind. The dose changes; the process does not.
Maltitol (E965) and IBS: what to know
Nobody eats maltitol by the teaspoon, which is precisely the difficulty. It arrives as sugar-free chocolate, sugar-free biscuits, protein bars, boiled sweets and gummies, and in those it is doing the bulking work that sugar used to do, so it is present in roughly the quantity of the sugar it replaced. Two or three squares of a diabetic bar can hand you more than the tested spoonful. Symptoms also tend to arrive some hours later rather than straight away, which lets the bar in your desk drawer go unsuspected.
Gut-friendly ways to eat maltitol (e965)
If chocolate is what you want, ordinary dark chocolate is rated green at its tested serve and needs no replacement sweetener at all, which makes it a much simpler buy than the sugar-free version. For baking, erythritol is rated green at 2 tablespoons and bulks and creams a little like caster sugar, and blends of erythritol with stevia behave the same way. Read past the front of the pack: maltitol, maltitol syrup and E965 all name this, and hydrogenated glucose syrup usually does too.
Frequently asked questions
Why does sugar-free chocolate give me diarrhoea?
Because most of it is sweetened with maltitol, and the share of the polyol that escapes absorption in the small intestine pulls water into the bowel behind it. That is a dose effect rather than an intolerance, and it is why packs carry a warning about a laxative effect. A teaspoon is already the red-rated amount, and a bar holds a great deal more than that.
Is maltitol better than sugar if you have IBS?
Not for gut symptoms. White sugar is rated green because it is digested and absorbed well before the colon, while maltitol is only partly absorbed and the leftover ferments. Maltitol has a smaller effect on blood glucose, which is why diabetic products use it, but blood sugar and bowel symptoms are two different questions and this guide answers only the second.
How much maltitol can I have on a low FODMAP diet?
Our data holds one point, a teaspoon, and it is red, so there is no tested amount underneath it to work with. Polyols also stack through a day: two sugar-free mints, a protein bar and a square of diabetic chocolate add up without any single one feeling like a portion. During elimination this is usually a food to leave out rather than to ration.
What is E965 on an ingredient list?
E965 is maltitol: E965(i) is the crystalline powder, E965(ii) the syrup. It appears in sugar-free chocolate and sweets, low-carb bars, some ice creams and chewing gum. Manufacturers may also declare it as hydrogenated maltose or fold it into a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, so the word maltitol is not always on the pack even when the polyol is in the product.
Check a whole plate in seconds.
Not sure about a whole meal? Scan it with the Gut Friendly app.
Get the app
