Stomach ailment link to sweetener
Updated on 11 January 2008
People who eat large quantities of a type of sweetener could be putting themselves at risk of an upset stomach, experts said.
Sorbitol, which is widely used in "sugar-free" products like chewing gum, sweets and some cereals, could cause severe weight loss, abdominal pain and diarrhoea, they warned.
Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), doctors from Berlin said patients eating the equivalent of 14 or more sticks of gum a day suffered severe symptoms.
They said medics should ask patients about their intake of the sweetener if there was unexplained weight loss and other such problems.
Sorbitol (also called E420) is a bulk sweetener that has about the same sweetness as sugar.
It can be added to foods in similar quantities to sugar but contains around a third fewer calories.
Sorbitol is known to have a laxative effective and is poorly absorbed by the small intestine.
The authors said people should be warned of the dangers of too much sorbitol, including diabetics who rely on low-sugar or sugar-free foods.
They said: "People with diabetes often eat dietetic foods containing sorbitol. In addition, sugar-free or low-sugar foods are increasingly eaten in Western countries by people without diabetes because they are low in calories and are less likely than sugar to cause caries (tooth decay)."
"As possible side-effects are usually found only within the small print on foods containing sorbitol, consumers may be unaware of its laxative effects and fail to recognise a link with their gastrointestinal problems," they added.
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