The resulting product is much sweeter than sucrose, allowing less of it to be used. HFCS is the main nutritive sweetener in the soft drink industry. Sugar alcohols are sometimes used as a substitute for sucrose. Mannitol, sorbitol and maltitol occur naturally in fruits. Xylitol is a normal intermediate product in the metabolism of carbohydrates in fruits and vegetables.
Sugar alcohols add bulk and texturizing to food such as chewing gum and hard candies.
Because they are metabolized by the body more slowly than sucrose, they are useful in foods for people following special diets, such as a diabetic diet. The body is unable to distinguish between natural sugar found in fruit, honey or milk, or processed sugar. All sugars are digested in the same manner. Although carbohydrate digestion starts in the mouth, the small intestine is the major area of digestion and absorption. Here, polysaccharides are broken down to disaccharides and then monosaccharides, which are shunted to the liver.