Xylitol is white crystal

and is very like cane sugar both in appearance and taste. Speaking from foodstuff grade, xylitol is a kind of carbohydrate in broad sense and a polyatomic alcohol in narrow sense. Because xylitol can only be slowly absorbed or partly used, low calorie is its major characteristic: 2.4 calories per gram being 40% less than other carbohydrates. It has been applied to food since the sixties. It is a very popular sweetener for diabetics in some countries. In the United States, it can be used as food additives for some special purpose and is not limited in dosage.

As the best sweetener to prevent dental caries (this is the earliest characteristic of xylitol we know), Xylitol has gotten the authentication in different cases in the past 25 years. The property that xylitol can reduce dental caries is applicable both in high-risk groups (high incidence in dental caries, undernutrition, low-level oral health) and low-risk groups (using all current teeth protection measures to protect teeth, with low generation rate of dental holes).

Xylitol tastes better in low temperature status. Its sweetness is 1.2 times of sucrose. Xylitol usually brings slightly cool and refreshing feeling to our mouth, which is because it is soluble in water and absorbs a certain quantity of heat while dissolving. To a certain extent, it is helpful for the purity of our teeth, but excessive edible can cause side effects like diarrhea, which can not be ignored.