Malitol; what is it?

I bought a vegan oatmeal raisin 'sugar-free' cookie at Whole Foods yesterday, thinking that it wouldn't be so bad for you since it had no sugars and was made with whole wheat flour. Well on the ingredient listing, it listed malitol as an ingredient. I looked it up on the internet, and I learned that malitol is 'hydrogenated maltose'. Does this mean that malitol is trans fat? Why the heck was it in my cookie from WHOLE FOODS!? Should I just throw the thing out or what?

is there nutritional info along with the cookie? if there is, and it says it contains no trans fat; then i don't think malitol would be trans fat. i googled "is malitol trans fat?" and saw nothing that said that it was, so i think you're safe.

but, if it does contain trans fat.. it's probably such a small amount and, is one cookie going to ruin your life?

i know how you feel so i'm not going to say "eat the cookie, stop obsessing", i tend to 'care alot' about what's in the food i eat so my only piece of advice is; if you aren't comfortable with eating something you're not absolutely sure of, then don't. don't eat it if you know you're going to feel bad after. there's no need to let your day be ruined by something as silly as food. if you want an oatmeal cookie that bad and are worried about the malitol, just make your own.

 

Malitol is what is known as  a "sugar alcohol."  It is a sweetener commonly found in sugar-free baked goods, ice creams, candies, ect.  Malitol contains only 2.1 calories per gram as opposed to 4 calories per gram in sugar.  I'm not all that familiar with sugar alcohols and what they actually are.  But I'm pretty sure they aren't transfat, since fat contains 9 calories per gram.  If you want more information, you can try googling sugar alcohols.

I hope this was helpful.

-Kat

Thanks to both of you. I'm not diabetic so I'm not HORRIBLY worried about blood sugar; it won't hurt me if I eat one darn cookie, right? I was just curious as to weather 'hydrogenation' always led to trans fat. I suppose hydrogedated oils are different than sugars though, since oil is a pure fat to begin with, and sugar has no fat whatsoever.

The nutrition facts aren't listed since they are baked fresh daily, but they list the ingredients. Malitol was the only suggestive ingredient I saw listed; the rest were just basic things like wheat flour, tofu, baking soda, raisins, etc.

enjoy the cookie!

i wish i had a cookie right about now :| and i wish i had a whole foods near me too.

=( I'm sorry that you don't. They have a lot of good quality baked goods, especially the vegan options. Plus, their offerings are constantly changing so you never know when something new will pop up.

Me and my mom found samples of these Passover matzo-meal brownies and they were SO GOOD; moist, chocolatey, and THICK! We each got one on our way in, and on the way out. Thank goodness they were only samples. ^^

the nearest whole foods from me is 70 miles away, or an hour's drive.

maybe i'll try convincing my mom to take me there once a month or something, it sounds like i'm seriously missing out.

do they have a website?

I hate to say it, but I think you are missing out on quite a bit! There's not only a fresh bakery, but they have an AMAZING salad bar (assorted of greens, raw veggies of all kinds, beans, chickpeas, pasta salads, chopped nuts, dried fruits, organic meats and fish, and even tofu!), an exotic meat and fish counter (if you're into that), a large variety of bulk goods (everything from granola and pasta to spices and goji berries), many vegan-friendly items (the BEST vegan soy cheese, tempeh, baked and plain tofu, seitan, and soy yogurts), hard-to-find "diet" items (Shirataki noodles, Guiltless Gourmet chips, etc.), and much more!

They do have a website, but sadly they don't list all their inventories, since products vary from store to store. Here's a link; http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

Only hydrogenated oils are trans fats. Maltose is sugar, so hydrogenating it wouldn't give a trans fat. So it's safe. Besides, whole foods has sworn off trans fats. Enjoy your cookie!

WOO! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Meh cookie; is safe. ^^

Yeah, anything ending with "-ose" is almost always a sugar/carb, and not a fat.
It's a helpful sort of rule when trying to decipher random ingerdients.

Maltitol's a sugar substitute, not a fat, but it's not very good for you either.  Don't have more than one serving a day -- it can give you the runs and major gas.  I once had a big handful of "sugar-free" candy that had maltitol and had the most painful bout of diarrhea ever.  (Sorry.)  The side effects are not worth the reduction of calories, for me at least.  Just have something with sugar or honey (not high fructose corn syrup), and keep your portions small.  Our bodies just don't respond well to crazyass chemicals that have no place in nature.

Artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols are generally quite bad for you, so eat sparingly.

Maltitol: Just Say No - Why Maltitol is Often More Trouble Than It's Worth http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/ maltitol.htm

she's only 13.

one cookie isn't going to kill her.

before i calorie-counted, i ate dairy queen blizzards, chocolate bars, chips and pop DAILY and i'm still living and am pretty healthy, i think.

Sugar alcohols are things to skip.  They are a lame way to reduce calories without reducing the sweetness and portion size as much.  They are lame because when you eat too much they give you diarrhea.  Think olestra :) 

There was a thing in the BBC news the other week about a doctor with patients who were losing weight and he couldn't figure out why.  Turns out they all chewed a lot of gum containing sugar alcohols, and it gave them diarrhea that made them lose weight.

Personally I don't knowingly buy things with sugar alcohols.  I'll stick to real sugar!

For Christ's sake! Sugars (Carbohydrates) and Fats (Lipids) are two completely difference macromolecules. Enough said.

Just to explain your fear about "hydrogenation" (and explaining trans- fat)
--------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- ----

The "trans" in trans fat refers to the molecular orientation. A plant oil molecule is arranged in a "cis" configuration and **PARTIALLY** hydrogenating it results in some of the molecules being reoriented into the "trans" configuration(the carbon chain becomes "in-line"). Fully hydrogenating it results in very, very, very few trans isomers. Fully hydrogenated oils are NOT "trans fats", although people see that 4 letter (...ok, so it's 12 letters) word and stay away from it....fully hydrogenated fats are still fats though, mostly in the form of stearic acid. Stearic acid gets converted by the body into oleic acid(a monounsaturated fat)

Now...back to Malitol and a very little bit more about hydrogenation
--------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------

Hydrogenation is the process of leveraging a catalyst to add Hydrogen (H2) to a double bond of a molecule. Hydrogenation is done to make organic compounds (like maltose for example) reach their saturation point. ...Thus, since malitol is "hydrogenated maltose" it is a sugar alcohol that is the most saturated form of maltose chemically viable(...means it's the absolute sweetest that it can possibly be hehehe) But, hydrogenating maltose does not cause its carbon chain to realign as a trans- isomer.

Moral of the story:
------------------------

Freak out about "partially hydrogenated xxx oil"

You probably shouldn't freak out by seeing "fully hydrogenated xxx oil" or "fully hydrogenated ---"

Hope that eases your mind a little bit and gives you a few new keywords to go search the web :) I'd start with Wikipedia and go from there

...the information might be a touch over some people's heads, especially if you aren't that keen on chemistry, but I figured I'd like this article just so you guys know I wasn't pulling my information out of thin air hehehe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cis-trans_isomer ism

Aww organic chemistry! YAY

Yeah I don't even think maltose has a double bond, so it definitely wouldn't have a trans configuration on one.  Plus it's a carbohydrate!  Oh man I love chemistry!  It applies to everything! haha yeah so no worries, no trans fat at all!

Oh and if something is fully hydrogenated, then it won't have any double bonds, meaning you can't have a trans double bond.  So only worry for partially hydrogenated (and only if it's a lipid like oil).  Someone correct me if I look like an idiot now!

Original Post by kpm1986:

For Christ's sake! Sugars (Carbohydrates) and Fats (Lipids) are two completely difference macromolecules. Enough said.

 Not everyone is a chemistry major, or has the nutrition education to understand that.  I think you should be a little more kind or maybe not say any thing at all if you are not gonna be helpful. 

The sarcasm and rudeness on this site is kinda gettin out of hand.

Original Post by bre54321:

Yeah I don't even think maltose has a double bond, so it definitely wouldn't have a trans configuration on one.  

Nope. No double bonds. You can see a picture of the structure HERE. And your right, you really don't need to worry about cis-trans conformation unless your dealing with lipids.