The 8 Most Common Zero-Calorie Sweeteners: How They're Made, How They Taste, and What the Label Doesn't Tell You
Pick up a bag of monk fruit sweetener at the grocery store. Turn it around. The first ingredient is almost certainly erythritol. The monk fruit extract that gave the product its name is probably less than 1.5 percent of what is inside. Three separate lawsuits in California are currently arguing that this is misleading. Whether they are right or wrong, the fact that consumers are suing over it means most people do not understand what they are buying.
We manufacture and export the ingredients that go into these retail products — stevia extracts, monk fruit extracts, erythritol, sweetener blends. We know what is in them because we supply the raw materials. This guide is written from that side of the supply chain. It covers eight zero-calorie sweeteners, explains how each one is actually made, what the label is telling you and what it is leaving out, and where the safety research stands as of late 2026.
A note on what "zero-calorie" means here: it is a labelling term, not a chemical fact. Erythritol has about 0.2 calories per gram, and allulose has about 0.4. Both are low enough that regulators allow the label to round down to zero. This article uses "zero-calorie" in the labelling sense throughout, because that is the word on the bag and the word people search for.
01 The families
What "Zero-Calorie Sweetener" Actually Covers
The phrase groups together molecules that have almost nothing in common except that they replace sugar without adding significant calories. They fall into four families, and understanding which family a sweetener belongs to tells you more than any marketing claim on the front of the bag.
| Family | How It Works | Typical Sweetness | Examples in This Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-intensity plant extracts | Specific compounds extracted from a plant; used in tiny amounts (milligrams per serving) | 150 to 300 times sweeter than sugar | Stevia, monk fruit, trilobatin |
| Sugar alcohols (polyols) | Partially absorbed carbohydrates, naturally occurring in fruit at trace levels but commercially produced by fermentation | 60 to 100 percent as sweet as sugar | Erythritol, xylitol |
| Rare sugars | Naturally occurring monosaccharides produced at scale by enzymatic conversion | About 70 percent as sweet as sugar | Allulose (D-psicose) |
| Sweet proteins | Proteins that activate the sweet receptor; produced by precision fermentation | 500 to 10,000 times sweeter than sugar | Thaumatin, brazzein |
A retail sweetener product almost never contains just one of these. What sits on the supermarket shelf is usually a blend — a high-intensity extract providing the sweetness, and a bulk sweetener providing the volume so you can measure it with a spoon. The front of the bag names the exciting ingredient. The back of the bag tells you the one that takes up 99 percent of the space.
02 High-intensity extracts
Stevia, Monk Fruit and Trilobatin: The Plant-Derived High-Intensity Sweeteners
Stevia
Stevia sweetness comes from a group of compounds called steviol glycosides, found in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant originally from Paraguay. The leaves are extracted with water or aqueous ethanol, and the extract is purified to isolate individual glycosides. The two you will see most often are rebaudioside A (Reb A) and rebaudioside M (Reb M).
Here is something the label will not tell you. Reb A and Reb M taste noticeably different. Reb A is cheaper and more widely available, but it activates two specific human bitter taste receptors (TAS2R4 and TAS2R14), which is why many people report a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste. Reb M does not bind those receptors at all — it is physically too large to fit in the binding pocket — which is why it tastes cleaner. But Reb M is present in the stevia leaf at less than one percent, making it far more expensive to produce. Most consumer stevia products use Reb A unless they specifically say otherwise. If your stevia tastes bitter and your friend's does not, you might be tasting different molecules with the same label. Our stevia extract product page lists the specific glycoside grades from Reb A 60% to Reb M 98%, so you can see what the differences actually are. For a deeper dive into why they taste different, see our guide to stevia bitterness and aftertaste.
Stevia can also be produced by enzymatic conversion (starting from Reb A and converting it to Reb M using enzymes) or by fermentation (starting from glucose using engineered yeast). These routes produce the same molecule but carry different regulatory classifications in the EU. If that distinction matters to you — particularly if you are formulating a product for the European market — we explain the full breakdown in our Reb M production routes guide.
Monk fruit (luo han guo)
Monk fruit sweetness comes from compounds called mogrosides, particularly mogroside V, found in the fruit of Siraitia grosvenorii, a vine native to southern China. The dried fruit is extracted with water, and the extract is purified to concentrate mogroside V.
Monk fruit is often marketed as having no aftertaste. That is concentration-dependent. At low levels the taste is clean and slightly fruity. At the concentrations needed to match the sweetness of a 10 percent sugar solution, sensory research has found that monk fruit extract produces bitter, metallic and chemical side-taste citations similar to those of stevia. The difference between "clean-tasting" and "not clean-tasting" is largely a function of how much you use, not an inherent property of the molecule.
The extract comes in grades ranging from about 10 percent mogroside V to 55 percent or higher. A higher grade means more sweetness per gram, a cleaner taste at equal sweetness, and a significantly higher price. The grade is rarely disclosed on consumer products — if you want to see what the grade range actually looks like, our ingredient product page lists mogroside V percentages alongside the stevia grades. For the comparison between stevia and monk fruit in formulation, see our detailed guide.
Trilobatin
Trilobatin is a dihydrochalcone from Lithocarpus litseifolius, the Chinese sweet tea plant. It is about 100 times sweeter than sugar at 100 ppm. But its more interesting property is that it blocks bitterness. In patent testing, 10 ppm of trilobatin in coffee measurably reduced perceived caffeine bitterness, and 5 ppm did the same in energy drinks.
There is one fact that most supplier pages omit. Trilobatin has FEMA GRAS status for use as a flavoring agent, not as a sweetener. That is a regulatory distinction with real consequences: it can be used in the United States to modify flavor, but it is not categorised in the same way as stevia or monk fruit, and its approval status in other markets varies. If you see trilobatin positioned as a straightforward alternative to stevia, check the regulatory basis. For the full evidence review, see our trilobatin evidence analysis.
03 Bulk sweeteners
Erythritol, Allulose and Xylitol: The Bulk Sweeteners
These three are different from the high-intensity extracts in every way that matters for daily use. They are not measured in milligrams. They are measured in grams — spoonfuls, cups, bags. They provide the volume, the texture, the mouthfeel and the ability to caramelise that high-intensity sweeteners cannot.
Erythritol
Erythritol occurs naturally in pears, grapes, watermelon and fermented foods. It sounds like a natural product, and the molecule is identical to what is found in fruit. But here is the production reality: approximately 23 kilograms (50 pounds) of fruit yields about one gram of naturally occurring erythritol. Commercial erythritol is produced by fermenting glucose from corn starch using a yeast (Moniliella pollinis or similar), in stainless steel fermentation tanks. The molecule is the same. The scale is industrial.
Is it "natural"? That depends on your definition, and in 2026 it also depends on your lawyer. A class action filed in California in June 2026 argued that a probiotic soda labelled "No Artificial Sweeteners" was misleading because it contained commercially fermented erythritol. The case is pending. The FDA does not classify erythritol as artificial. But the gap between what the molecule is and how the molecule is produced is real, and it is worth understanding.
Erythritol is about 60 to 70 percent as sweet as sugar, has nearly zero calories (0.2 cal/g), does not raise blood sugar, and is well tolerated digestively because about 90 percent of it is absorbed in the small intestine and excreted unchanged. It does have a cooling sensation — an endothermic dissolution effect that some people notice and some do not. In beverages at above 3 to 5 percent it becomes noticeable enough that taste panels start reporting it as a distinct attribute.
Allulose (D-psicose)
Allulose is a rare sugar that exists naturally in figs, raisins and wheat. Like erythritol, commercial allulose is produced enzymatically — by converting fructose using an enzyme (D-psicose 3-epimerase), not by extracting it from figs. It has about 70 percent of the sweetness of sugar, 0.2 to 0.4 calories per gram, and does not raise blood sugar.
Allulose has one property no other zero-calorie sweetener has: it participates in the Maillard reaction. It browns. It caramelises. It behaves like sugar in a way that stevia, monk fruit and erythritol simply cannot. For baking, this is a significant functional advantage.
In the United States, allulose is FDA GRAS and — critically for consumer products — it is excluded from the "Total Sugars" and "Added Sugars" lines on the Nutrition Facts label. That is a major marketing advantage, and it is one reason why reformulated US products are increasingly switching from erythritol to allulose.
Now the part most guides skip. Allulose cannot be sold as a food ingredient in the European Union. It is classified as a novel food under EU Regulation 2015/2283, and as of late 2026, no authorisation has been granted. The reason is not that EFSA found it unsafe. The reason is more surprising: the first applicant submitted a dossier, EFSA asked for additional data, and the applicant never replied. EFSA's June 2025 opinion concludes: "Despite being contacted several times, the applicant did not reply to EFSA's requests for additional data. The safety of D-allulose cannot be established." A new consortium (the Allulose Novel Food Consortium, with members including Ingredion, Samyang and Matsutani) is now pushing a fresh joint application for both the EU and the UK. But for now, if your product is sold in Europe, allulose is not an option.
Xylitol
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is best known from chewing gum and toothpaste. It is about as sweet as sugar, has 2.4 calories per gram (not zero, but often rounded down in per-serving labelling), and has the strongest evidence of any sweetener for reducing dental cavities. The European Food Safety Authority has approved the health claim that xylitol chewing gum reduces the risk of caries in children. Multiple systematic reviews support its anti-cariogenic effects, and the mechanism is well understood: it inhibits Streptococcus mutans, the primary bacterium behind tooth decay.
In June 2024, the Cleveland Clinic group — the same team that flagged erythritol — published a paper in the European Heart Journal reporting that xylitol was prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk. In August 2026, a longer study presented at the ESC Congress found an 18 percent higher rate of major adverse cardiovascular events over 30 years in people with the highest blood xylitol levels.
The dental research community pushed back hard. A March 2025 response in the same journal cited a double-blind study showing that a normal oral health dose of xylitol (7 grams per day) produced no detectable increase in blood xylitol levels and no evidence of thrombotic risk. The dental researchers' argument: the cardiovascular signal comes from high blood concentrations, and normal dietary use does not reach those concentrations.
So cardiologists and dentists are looking at the same molecule and reaching different conclusions, because they are measuring different things at different doses. For consumers, the practical takeaway is dose and context: 5 to 6 grams of xylitol per day in chewing gum (the dental-health dose) is a very different exposure from consuming 30 or more grams per day as a bulk sugar replacement in food.
04 The label truth
Why Your "Monk Fruit Sweetener" Is 99 Percent Erythritol
This section is the one most sweetener guides avoid writing, because it makes the product category look bad. We are writing it because it is true, and because understanding it is the single most useful thing a consumer can learn about zero-calorie sweeteners.
Monk fruit extract is roughly 200 times sweeter than sugar. To sweeten a cup of coffee the way one teaspoon of sugar would, you need about 25 milligrams of monk fruit extract. That is a barely visible speck. You cannot measure it with a teaspoon. You cannot sprinkle it from a packet. It would be lost in the bottom of a mug.
So manufacturers add a bulking agent — almost always erythritol — to bring the product up to a volume you can measure. A typical "1:1 sugar replacement" monk fruit sweetener contains approximately 99 percent erythritol and less than 1.5 percent monk fruit extract. When the label lists ingredients as "Erythritol, Monk Fruit Extract", that ordering is not alphabetical. It is by weight, most to least.
The sweetness comes from the monk fruit. Everything else comes from the erythritol. The bag is named after the 1 percent.
The lawsuits
In December 2025, a consumer sued the maker of a widely sold monk fruit sweetener in California, alleging that the product's labelling was misleading. Third-party testing found the product contained 1.15 percent monk fruit extract and 98.85 percent erythritol. The court allowed the case to proceed, finding it plausible that a reasonable consumer would expect a product prominently labelled "Monk Fruit Sweetener" to contain more than a trace amount of monk fruit.
A second suit was filed in February 2026 against a different brand, alleging it marketed its monk fruit sweetener as "free from artificial sweeteners" while the dominant ingredient was erythritol. A third followed in May 2026 against yet another company, with the same structure of claims.
None of these cases has been decided. The manufacturers are not necessarily doing anything illegal — the labelling may comply with FDA regulations. But the lawsuits signal that a gap has opened between what the label technically says and what a significant number of consumers believe they are buying. That gap is the thing worth understanding, whether or not the lawsuits succeed.
The same is true for stevia
Most retail stevia products follow the same pattern: the bag says "Stevia", the first ingredient is erythritol, maltodextrin or dextrose, and the actual stevia extract is the second or third ingredient. The ratio is typically less extreme than monk fruit blends — stevia products may contain 1 to 3 percent steviol glycosides — but the principle is the same. The product is named after the sweetening agent, not the ingredient that makes up the bulk of the powder.
This is not fraud. It is how high-intensity sweeteners are made usable at kitchen scale. But if you care about what is in the bag, the front label is not where you find out. The ingredients list is.
05 Sweet proteins
Brazzein and Thaumatin: The Next Generation
Thaumatin (E957)
Thaumatin is a protein extracted from the fruit of Thaumatococcus daniellii, a plant from West Africa. It is roughly 2,000 times sweeter than sugar by weight. In the EU it has been approved as a food additive (E957) for decades and is widely used — not as a primary sweetener, but as a flavour modifier. At sub-sweet concentrations (well below the level where you taste sweetness), thaumatin suppresses bitterness and rounds out the taste of other sweeteners. If you have ever noticed that some stevia products taste less bitter than others despite having similar Reb A content, thaumatin in the formula may be part of the reason.
Recent receptor-level research has confirmed that thaumatin has genuine sweetness synergy with both stevia (Reb A) and monk fruit (mogroside V), meaning the combination produces a sweeter response than the sum of the parts. That is a rare property. Most sweetener pairings do not show receptor-level synergy. For the full data on which combinations have it and which do not, see our sweetener blending guide.
Brazzein
Brazzein is a small protein found in the fruit of Pentadiplandra brazzeana, a climbing plant from Central and West Africa. It is roughly 500 to 2,000 times sweeter than sugar depending on the variant, and it has a clean sweetness profile without the bitter or metallic notes that plague steviol glycosides.
Commercially, brazzein is produced by precision fermentation — engineered micro-organisms produce the protein, which is then purified. It is not extracted from the plant at any commercial scale.
Here is what you need to know about availability. Brazzein has FDA GRAS status in the United States but is not authorised as a food ingredient in the European Union. It is classified as a novel food, and no approval has been granted. The EU regulatory process is in progress — Pentasweet raised 65 million euros in April 2026 and is building Europe's first brazzein production facility in Lithuania, expected to begin production in the first half of 2027. The German Fraunhofer Institute is running a project (BeyondSugar, 2025–2027) specifically aimed at creating the approval dossier. But as of late 2026, if you are in Europe, brazzein is not something you can buy or that food manufacturers can legally use.
Articles that list brazzein alongside stevia and erythritol as though they are equally available options are giving an incomplete picture. Brazzein is a promising next-generation sweetener. It is not a current-generation choice in most of the world.
06 Safety in 2026
The Safety Questions Everyone Is Asking in 2026
Erythritol and cardiovascular risk
In February 2023, a Cleveland Clinic study published in Nature Medicine reported that higher blood erythritol levels were associated with an increased risk of major cardiovascular events over three years. The study also showed that erythritol enhanced platelet reactivity in lab experiments, suggesting a potential mechanism through which it could promote blood clotting.
In May 2026, the same group published a follow-up: healthy volunteers who consumed a drink containing 30 grams of erythritol (roughly the amount in a large diet soda) showed enhanced platelet reactivity within 30 minutes, with the effect persisting for more than two days.
Three things to understand about these findings. First, they show an association and a plausible mechanism, not a confirmed cause-and-effect. Second, the body produces erythritol on its own through a metabolic pathway called the pentose phosphate pathway — so a high blood level might reflect metabolic dysfunction (it could be a marker, not a cause). Third, no long-term dietary study has been completed, and the FDA has not changed erythritol's GRAS status.
The evidence has gotten stronger between 2023 and 2026, but it is not conclusive. If you have existing cardiovascular risk factors, this is a data point worth discussing with your physician. If you do not, the current state of evidence does not support removing erythritol from your diet, but it does support paying attention to the research as it develops.
Xylitol: the same team, the same molecule class, a different debate
The same Cleveland Clinic group reported in June 2024 that xylitol was also prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk, and a 30-year follow-up presented at the ESC Congress in August 2026 reported 18 percent higher MACE risk in people with the highest blood xylitol levels.
The dental research community has challenged these findings directly. A March 2025 letter in the European Heart Journal cited a double-blind study showing that ingesting 7 grams of xylitol per day — a normal dental health dose — produced no detectable increase in blood xylitol levels and no evidence of thrombotic risk. The authors argued that xylitol's proven benefit in reducing dental caries (which are themselves associated with cardiovascular disease) means it may actually reduce cardiovascular risk through the oral health pathway.
This is not a case where one side is right and the other is wrong. The cardiologists are measuring high blood concentrations and finding a signal. The dental researchers are measuring normal oral doses and finding no blood absorption. The question is not whether xylitol is safe. The question is whether the dose at which you use it reaches the blood levels at which the signal appears. For chewing gum and toothpaste (5 to 6 grams per day), the evidence so far says it does not. For bulk sugar replacement (30 grams or more per day), the answer is not yet clear.
Is erythritol "natural" or "artificial"?
This is a labelling question, not a chemistry question, and in 2026 it is being decided in court. As mentioned earlier, a class action filed in California in June 2026 argued that using erythritol in a product labelled "No Artificial Sweeteners" was misleading, because commercial erythritol is produced by industrial fermentation rather than extracted from fruit.
The FDA does not classify erythritol as an artificial sweetener. The molecule exists in nature. But the commercial product is manufactured in a fermentation facility, and calling it "natural" is a positioning choice that relies on the identity of the molecule rather than the method of its production. Whether consumers should care about that distinction is up to each individual. But knowing that the distinction exists is the prerequisite for making the choice.
07 Reading labels
How to Read a Sweetener Label: What the Front Says vs What Is Inside
The front of a sweetener bag is marketing. The ingredients list is the product. Here is how to read it in ten seconds.
| What the Label Says | What Is Probably Inside | What to Look For |
|---|---|---|
| "Monk Fruit Sweetener" (1:1 sugar replacement) | Erythritol 98–99%, monk fruit extract 1–2% | Ingredients list: is erythritol the first word? |
| "Stevia Sweetener" (packets or bags) | Erythritol, maltodextrin or dextrose 97–99%, stevia extract 1–3% | Check whether the extract is Reb A or Reb M — usually not stated |
| "Pure Monk Fruit Extract" | 100% monk fruit extract, no bulking agent | Extremely concentrated; a tiny amount goes a long way — you cannot measure it with a teaspoon |
| "Stevia and Monk Fruit Blend" | Erythritol, stevia extract, monk fruit extract — in that order | Two high-intensity extracts plus a bulk sweetener; the bulk sweetener is still the majority |
| "Keto Sweetener" / "1:1 Sugar Replacement" | Erythritol or allulose as the base, with a small amount of stevia or monk fruit | The term "keto" has no regulatory definition; check the actual ingredients |
A conversion guide
Because high-intensity sweeteners are measured differently from bulk sweeteners, direct teaspoon-to-teaspoon conversions are approximate. These are practical starting points, not exact equivalences.
| To Replace 1 Teaspoon (4 g) of Sugar | Amount Needed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Erythritol | About 1.3 to 1.5 teaspoons | 70% as sweet as sugar; slightly more volume needed |
| Allulose | About 1.3 to 1.5 teaspoons | 70% as sweet; browns like sugar |
| Xylitol | About 1 teaspoon | Approximately equal sweetness to sugar |
| Monk fruit + erythritol blend (1:1 type) | About 1 teaspoon | Designed to match sugar volume-for-volume |
| Pure stevia extract (powder) | About a pinch (roughly 25–40 mg) | 200–300 times sweeter than sugar; a very small amount goes far |
| Pure monk fruit extract (powder) | About a pinch (roughly 20–30 mg) | 200 times sweeter; even less volume than stevia |
08 Selection
Which Sweetener for Which Job
Instead of ranking these (rankings assume everyone wants the same thing), here is a match by use case.
| Use Case | Best Fit | Why | Watch Out For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee or tea (daily, hot) | Stevia (Reb M if available) or monk fruit extract | A tiny amount dissolves instantly; no bulk needed | Reb A stevia may taste bitter in plain hot beverages; try Reb M or monk fruit first |
| Baking (brownies, cookies, cakes) | Allulose (US and approved markets) or erythritol | Allulose browns and caramelises; erythritol provides bulk and crystalline structure | Allulose not available in the EU; erythritol may crystallise on cooling in some recipes |
| Smoothies and protein shakes | Monk fruit or Reb M stevia + erythritol for body | Plant proteins carry bitterness; a cleaner sweetener avoids stacking bitter notes | Check if your protein powder already contains a sweetener before adding more |
| Cold beverages (iced tea, lemonade) | Stevia or monk fruit (for sweetness) + erythritol or allulose (for body) | High-intensity sweetener alone makes a thin-tasting drink; bulk sweetener adds mouthfeel | Erythritol cooling effect becomes noticeable at higher concentrations |
| Chewing gum and dental care | Xylitol | Strongest evidence for reducing dental cavities among all sweeteners | Stay within the dental health dose range (5–6 g/day); the cardiovascular signal is at higher exposures |
| Yoghurt and dairy | Partial sugar + stevia or monk fruit | Keeping some sugar preserves texture and fermentation behaviour | Full sugar replacement in yoghurt often changes the texture in ways consumers reject |
| Keto and low-carb cooking | Erythritol or allulose as the base, stevia or monk fruit for extra sweetness | Both have zero or near-zero net carbs and do not spike blood sugar | Allulose unavailable in Europe; erythritol is the default keto base outside the US |
| European market (any use) | Stevia, erythritol, xylitol, thaumatin | These four are fully approved as food additives in the EU | Allulose and brazzein are not authorised in the EU as of late 2026 |
09 Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the healthiest zero-calorie sweetener?
There is no single answer because the evidence depends on the health outcome you care about. For dental health, xylitol has the strongest evidence. For blood sugar management, stevia, monk fruit, erythritol and allulose all have a zero or near-zero glycemic response. For cardiovascular risk, the research is evolving — erythritol and xylitol are both under active investigation. No sweetener has been shown to be harmful at normal dietary doses in a completed long-term study, but the absence of long-term data is itself a data gap.
Is monk fruit sweetener really just erythritol?
Most retail monk fruit sweetener products are approximately 99 percent erythritol by weight, with less than 1.5 percent monk fruit extract. The sweetness comes from the monk fruit. The volume, texture and everything else comes from the erythritol. Three class action lawsuits filed in California in 2025 and 2026 are challenging whether this labelling is misleading. The cases are ongoing. If you want just monk fruit, look for products labelled "pure monk fruit extract" with only one ingredient listed.
Why is allulose not available in Europe?
Allulose is classified as a novel food in the EU under Regulation 2015/2283. A safety assessment was initiated, but the original applicant failed to respond to EFSA's requests for additional data. EFSA's June 2025 opinion concluded that "the safety of D-allulose cannot be established" due to missing information, not because of a safety concern. A new consortium is pursuing a fresh application. Separately, the UK is evaluating its own application. Neither process has concluded.
Is erythritol bad for your heart?
Two studies from the Cleveland Clinic (2023 and 2026) found associations between high blood erythritol levels and cardiovascular markers, and showed that a 30-gram dose enhanced platelet reactivity in healthy volunteers. These are real findings. They are also observational and short-term, and the body produces erythritol on its own, which complicates the interpretation. GRAS status is unchanged, and no regulatory action has been taken. The research is active and developing — this is a question to revisit, not one to consider settled.
Is xylitol safe to eat every day?
At the dental health dose of 5 to 6 grams per day, a double-blind study found no detectable increase in blood xylitol levels and no evidence of thrombotic risk. At higher doses used as a bulk sugar replacement (30 grams or more), the cardiovascular signal from the 2024 and 2026 studies may be relevant. The dose matters more than the molecule. Xylitol is also toxic to dogs — even small amounts can cause hypoglycemia and liver failure in dogs — so pet owners should handle it carefully.
Does stevia raise blood sugar?
No. Steviol glycosides are not metabolised for energy and do not stimulate insulin secretion. This has been confirmed in multiple clinical studies. However, some retail stevia products contain dextrose or maltodextrin as bulking agents, which do contain calories and can raise blood sugar. Check the ingredients list — if dextrose is the first ingredient, you are getting more corn sugar than stevia.
What is the best sweetener for baking?
Allulose, if it is available in your market. It is the only zero-calorie sweetener that participates in the Maillard reaction (browning), caramelises, and behaves like sugar in terms of moisture retention and texture. Erythritol is the second best option for baking — it provides bulk and crystalline structure but does not brown. High-intensity sweeteners like stevia and monk fruit provide sweetness but not volume, so they need to be combined with a bulk ingredient.
Can I use stevia and monk fruit together?
You can, but the benefit may be less than expected. A 2024 receptor-level study found no sweetness synergy between Reb M (stevia) and mogroside V (monk fruit) — they likely bind the same site on the sweet receptor. Combining them may still improve the overall taste through flavour complementarity, but it will not make the mixture sweeter than the sum of the parts. For the full evidence, see our sweetener blending guide.
10 Sources
References
Receptor and sensory research
[1] SWEET project: A receptor-based assay to study the sweet and bitter tastes of sweeteners and binary sweet blends. Chemical Senses. 2024;49:bjae041. DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjae041
[2] Temporal sweetness and side tastes profiles of 16 sweeteners using temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA). Food Quality and Preference. A*STAR Singapore. View source
[3] Hellfritsch C, et al. Human psychometric and taste receptor responses to steviol glycosides. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2012;60(27):6782–6793. DOI: 10.1021/jf301297n
Erythritol cardiovascular
[4] Witkowski M, et al. The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nature Medicine. 2023;29:710–718. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02223-9
[5] Ingestion of the non-nutritive sweetener erythritol enhances platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential in healthy volunteers. Cleveland Clinic. 2026. View source
Xylitol cardiovascular and dental
[6] Witkowski M, et al. Xylitol is prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk. European Heart Journal. 2024;45(27):2439–2452. DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehae244
[7] Xylitol may increase the risk of cardiovascular events. ESC Congress 2026 press release. View source
[8] Oral health benefits and safety of xylitol and potential cardiovascular risk. European Heart Journal. 2025;46(27):2705–2706. DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf058
[9] Specific effects of xylitol chewing gum on mutans streptococci levels, plaque accumulation and caries occurrence: a systematic review. BMC Oral Health. 2025;25:1275. View source
Allulose EU status
[10] EFSA NDA Panel. Safety of D-allulose as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. EFSA Journal. 2025;23(6):e9468. DOI: 10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9468
Monk fruit labelling lawsuits
[11] Grimbaldeston v. Saraya USA, No. 2:25-cv-09157 (C.D. Cal. 2025). Monk fruit sweetener found to contain 1.15% monk fruit extract, 98.85% erythritol. Legal analysis
[12] Chakravarthy et al. v. Pyure Brands, LLC, No. 26-cv-1518 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 2026). View source
[13] Plaintiffs Seek Litigation Zen Over Monk Fruit Sweetener Labeling. Packaging Digest. May 2026. View source
Brazzein development
[14] Pentasweet lays foundations for Europe's first sweet protein plant in Lithuania. Vegconomist. April 2026. View source
[15] BeyondSugar project: Scaling up the manufacturing process and initiating an approval procedure for a protein-based sugar substitute. Fraunhofer IME. 2025–2027. View source
Reviewed by
Xinjuan XuAssociate Professor, Ph.D. Stevia Agronomy & Crop Physiology Expert. Scientific Advisor at PhytoVale, with research focused on stevia cultivation, plant physiology, raw-material quality and steviol glycoside accumulation.
Written by
FloraContent Editor at PhytoVale. Product content and editorial specialist, focused on botanical ingredient specifications, sourcing information and B2B technical content.
From the ingredient side
We supply what goes into these products
PhytoVale manufactures and exports stevia extracts (Reb A 60–97%, Reb D 95–98%, Reb M 95–98%), monk fruit extracts (mogroside V 25–55%), erythritol, erythritol-stevia blends and sweet tea extract (trilobatin). If you are a food or beverage manufacturer looking for the raw ingredient rather than the retail product, we can help.
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