E-numbers / Sweeteners / E968
also: Meso-erythritol · Erythrit
The sweetener in a lot of keto and sugar-free products. It does not raise blood sugar, but high blood levels were linked to heart attack and stroke in a 2023 study.
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Carbonated Water, Sweeteners (Erythritol, Steviol Glycosides), Natural Flavouring (including Kola Extract), Acidity Regulators (Malic Acid, Citric Acid)
A 2023 study found people with high erythritol in their blood were about twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke over three years.
139
of the 43,325 UK supermarket foods we checked declare E968 in their ingredients
That is 0.3%, counted by its code or its name.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Why it’s worth knowing. A 2023 study found people with high erythritol in their blood were about twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke over three years. In lab tests erythritol made platelets more likely to clump, which could make blood clot. Keto and diabetic products can hold a lot per serving.
Erythritol is a sweetener found in small amounts in some fruit and fermented foods. For food it is made by fermenting glucose with yeast. It belongs to the group chemists call polyols, which are not alcoholic. It is about 70% as sweet as sugar and has about 0.2kcal per gram.
It sweetens without raising blood sugar or insulin the way sugar does, because the body absorbs most of it in the small intestine and passes it out unchanged in urine. Because little reaches the large bowel, it causes less wind and bloating than other polyols, though large amounts still loosen the bowels.
Sugar-free and reduced-sugar products aimed at people with diabetes or on low-carb diets: protein bars, keto sweets, chewing gum, low-sugar chocolate, sweetener blends (often with stevia), zero-sugar energy drinks and some ice cream. UK labels call it erythritol or E968. Foods with more than 10% added polyols must say "excessive consumption may produce laxative effects".
A large 2023 study found that people with more erythritol in their blood were about twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke over the next three years. The researchers also showed in lab tests that erythritol makes platelets stickier, which could help clots form. This is a link, not proof of cause. The people studied were already at higher heart risk, and people who eat more processed sweet food may have higher erythritol and poorer health for other reasons.
In more than 1,000 heart patients followed for three years, those with the highest blood erythritol had roughly twice the risk of heart attack, stroke or death compared with those with the lowest.
Adding erythritol to blood in the lab, at levels like those after a normal serving, made platelets clump and stick more, which could raise the risk of clots.
The link was repeated in two separate groups, one in the US and one in Europe, pointing the same way.
Unlike most polyols, erythritol is almost all absorbed before it reaches the large bowel, so there is much less of the wind and bloating that comes with sorbitol or maltitol. But above roughly 50g at once in adults, some reaches the bowel and causes loose stools and diarrhoea. European reviewers based their daily limit on this effect.
European reviewers set a daily limit of 0.5g per kg of body weight, based mainly on the laxative effect rather than any toxic effect.
In human studies, single doses of about 50g or more in adults caused loose stools. Lower doses were generally tolerated without stomach symptoms.
The body does not turn erythritol into glucose, and its glycaemic index is zero. Trials in people with and without type 2 diabetes show it does not raise blood sugar or insulin, which is why it became popular in diabetic and keto products. The 2023 heart findings suggest that having no effect on blood sugar does not mean having no effect on the blood.
Erythritol has a glycaemic index of zero and did not raise insulin in clinical studies, unlike polyols the body partly breaks down.
Mouth bacteria do not ferment erythritol, so it does not cause tooth decay. Some studies suggest it may even cut the bacteria behind decay, though how much that matters in normal use is still being studied.
Sweets with erythritol reduced Streptococcus mutans, the main decay bacterium, in plaque and saliva compared with xylitol and sorbitol in a randomised trial in children.
Daily limit. 0.5g per kg of body weight a day (European reviewers, 2023).
People with heart disease, or at raised risk of heart attack or stroke, may want to note the 2023 observational findings and talk to their doctor about how much they have. People with irritable bowel syndrome or a sensitive gut can be affected by large amounts. Look for erythritol or E968, especially in keto, diabetic and sugar-free products, where a serving can hold a lot.
For years erythritol was seen as an unremarkable low-calorie sweetener. The 2023 Nature Medicine study changed that. The link with heart attack and stroke was repeated in more than one group and comes with a plausible way it could happen through platelets. What it cannot tell us is whether erythritol causes the risk, or whether people who eat a lot of it were already less healthy in ways that drive both their choice of sweetener and their heart risk. Regulators had not acted on it as of mid-2026. The heart question is open, not settled.
No. Erythritol is approved in the UK and is on the Food Standards Agency's list. European reviewers looked at it again in 2023, kept it approved and set its first numerical daily limit.
A 2023 study in Nature Medicine found that people with more erythritol in their blood were about twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke over three years, and that erythritol made platelets stickier in lab tests. It is a link from observational data, not proof of cause. No regulator has changed its advice, but the finding is seen as strong enough to need more research.
Mostly sugar-free and keto products: protein bars, low-sugar chocolate, chewing gum, sweetener blends (often with stevia), zero-sugar energy drinks and some ice cream. Labels call it erythritol or E968.
Yes. It is made by fermenting glucose from plants with yeast, with nothing from animals.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
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