Many of us already know that all sweeteners are not created equally and xylitol is no exception. This low-calorie sweetener is gaining in popularity for a wide range of audiences including diabetics or other individuals who are looking to avoid cane sugar for a number of health-related reasons.
According to Xylitol.org, “[xylitol] is the “sugar” that won’t wreck your body. While xylitol is just as sweet as table sugar (sucrose), it has about 40% fewer calories and 75% fewer carbohydrates. That in itself can make a big impact on your waistline! Importantly, xylitol is slowly absorbed and metabolized, resulting in very negligible changes in insulin. With this Xylitol benefit, it won’t raise your blood sugar like regular sugar, which puts tremendous strain on your system, causing negative health effects.”
So where does xylitol come from?
Before we dive into the primary topic for this post, let’s first touch base on where exactly xylitol comes from. This natural sweetener derived from the fibrous parts of plants, primarily corn, from the bark of birch trees or other hardwoods, or even a mixture of different types of sugars [source healingteethnaturally.org].
Xylitol from America vs. China
While it isn’t our stance to debate the origin from which this ingredient is supplied, at Gillco, we aim to source our ingredients as close to home as possible in an effort to maintain our sustainability standards.
Much of the of the xylitol on our grocery store shelves is sourced from China and is primarily derived from corn. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but the topic of Non-GMO/GMO-Free is a factor to consider here. While not all xylitol from China is sourced from potentially GMO contaminated corn, it’s hard to know for sure, so for those who are concerned about GMO contamination and hoping to avoid it, it’s probably safer to go with a brand that sources their xylitol within the United States.
Another factor to consider with xylitol that is sourced from China is travel/shipping. The amount of food and other commodities we source from overseas has an impact on our environment. While this may be difficult to avoid in some cases if the product we’re seeking can be sourced locally or within reasonable travel distance then that’s the route we should aim to take whenever possible.
Xylitol from Gillco
The xylitol we source is derived only from birch trees, is made in the USA and is Kosher certified under the Orthodox Union U.S. — this helps us to ensure, quality, consistency, and purity of the product. At Gillco, it is important to us to set the bar for higher standards where food ingredients are concerned. Sometimes, sourcing premium quality ingredients equates to a higher cost but the benefits of offering a clean label product is well worth the price…on so many levels.
Side Note…The last little point we’ll add about our xylitol is that is that we also offer varying particle sizes, which can be helpful depending on the usage and application for a given product.
If you enjoyed this news blog you might also want to read, “Implementing Sustainable Practices in the Food Industry.”