Xylitol has been used as a sweetener in foods since the 1960's.

Xylitol is only slowly absorbed and partially utilized; therefore a reduced calorie claim is allowed: 2.4 calories per gram or 40% less than other carbohydrates. In addition, the body does not require insulin to metabolize xylitol, which has made it a widely used sweetener for the diabetic diet in some countries. In the U.S., xylitol is approved as a food additive in unlimited quantity for foods with special dietary purposes. Learn More

Xylitol is widely recognized as
a cavity fighter.

With over 40 years of research and thousands of studies confirming its effectiveness and safety xylitol is one of the newest, easiest and tastiest ways that people can fight cavities. Research done in widely different conditions confirms that xylitol use significantly reduces reduces tooth decay rates both in high-risk groups (high caries prevalence, poor nutrition, and poor oral hygiene) and in low-risk groups (low caries incidence using all current prevention recommendations). Sugarfree chewing gums and candies made with xylitol as the principal sweetener have already received official endorsements from six national dental associations. Learn More

Xylitol has also been shown
to provide nasal relief.

The addition of xylitol to saline nasal sprays, neti pots, and positive pressure bottles has been shown to make them much more effective at helping to prevent ear infections (otitus media) in children, sinus infections in adults, and asthma and allergies in people of all ages. Xylitol helps prevent the harmful bacteria that cause upper respiratory infections from sticking to the tissue, if they can’t stick to the tissue, they can’t cause infection. Xylitol helps the body’s natural cleansing process to clear away allergens, asthmatic triggers and harmful bacteria. Learn More

Where Xylitol Comes From

Xylitol is found widely in nature, most of the fruits and vegetables that we eat on a daily basis have small amounts of xylitol. For commercial purposes xylitol comes from two sources: corncobs or trees. Even though the end resulting product is the same, the process to extract it from these two sources is not.

Corncobs are our preferred source for xylitol, it is much more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Corncobs are a renewable resource and are normally waste at the end of the season. Using corncobs that take 5 months to grow as a source for xylitol is much more sustainable than using trees that take 20 years to grow as a source for xylitol.

There are a number of xylitol production facilities around the world, but most of them are in China. In China most corn is harvested by hand and so at the harvest there are big piles of corncobs that need to be disposed of. To get rid of this they build xylitol production facilities. One would think that we would have an overabundance of corncobs here in America with all the corn we grow, but since we harvest with machinery the cobs are thrown back out into the field and not collected.

Dupont Chemical is the only company that makes xylitol from wood. If you are purchasing xylitol that claims to be made from hardwood you are buying xylitol from Dupont Chemical. They have production facilities in China, North America and Europe.

Again we want to stress that xylitol extracted from wood is the same as the same as from the other sources, xylitol from wood is the same as that extracted from corn. The only reason we think corn sourced xylitol is better is because it is much more sustainable.