maltodextrin and dextrose

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

do maltodextrin and dextrose have calories

Yes. Both have about 4 calories per gram.

then how does splenda, which has maltodextrin and dextrose,
call itself the 'no calorie sweetener'

It is all about nutrition labeling rules, the calories in
those products are not, or mostly so, digested but pass
through the gut. If I recall correctly, they are a part of
the splenda packets as a filler,ie. only a small fraction of
the powder is splenda. It's a marketing thing, they want
their packet to resemble sugar packets. Splenda also comes
in pill form and it is tiny without the fillers. Hay is full
of calories, if it burns it has calories, but not digestable
and would be so labeled.

Quoted message said:

then how does splenda, which has maltodextrin and dextrose,
call itself the 'no calorie sweetener'

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It is all about nutrition labeling rules, the calories in
those products are not, or mostly so, digested but pass
through the gut. If I recall correctly, they are a part of
the splenda packets as a filler,ie. only a small fraction
of the powder is splenda. It's a marketing thing, they
want their packet to resemble sugar packets. Splenda also
comes in pill form and it is tiny without the fillers. Hay
is full of calories, if it burns it has calories, but not
digestable and would be so labeled.

Quoted message said:

then how does splenda, which has maltodextrin and
dextrose, call itself the 'no calorie sweetener'

In fact, both dextrose (= glucose) and maltodextrin are very
well digested and absorbed. They are entirely metabolized
under just about all conditions. For this reason, they are
prime ingredients in energy drinks! However, there is less
than 1 g (i.e., <4 kcal) of these "fillers" in each Splenda
serving, so the manufacturer can claim no calories. I'm not
sure, but I believe that the manufacturer can give the
calorie content of foods on packages to the nearest 10 kcal,
and for Splenda, that's 0 kcal.

Mike Tordoff

"Michael Tordoff" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

In fact, both dextrose (= glucose) and maltodextrin are
very well digested and absorbed. They are entirely
metabolized under just about all conditions. For this
reason, they are prime ingredients in energy drinks!
However, there is less than 1 g (i.e., <4 kcal) of these
"fillers" in each Splenda serving, so the manufacturer
can claim no calories. I'm not sure, but I believe that
the manufacturer can give the calorie content of foods
on packages to the nearest 10 kcal, and for Splenda,
that's 0 kcal.

For that matter, foods can be legally labelled as "fat free"
or "sodium free" even if they contain small amounts of fat
or sodium. The key is that in order for a food to be
labelled "<X>-free," the amount of <X> in one serving of the
food has be negligible compared to the average daily intake
of <X>. For example, even for someone on a drastic (1200
kcal) weight-loss diet, the caloric content of a serving of
Splenda would represent at most a third of a percent of that
person's daily energy intake.

Of course that works to the benefit of Big Bad Food
Corporations, but it doesn't work to the *detriment* of
consumers. Variations in nutrient consumption on the order
of one part in 300 have no effect on health whatsoever.