• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
The Healthy Home Economist

The Healthy Home Economist

embrace your right to a lifetime of health

Get Plus
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Archives
  • Log in
  • Get Plus
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Get Plus
  • Log in
  • Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Archives
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Recipes
  • Healthy Living
  • Natural Remedies
  • Green Living
  • Videos
  • Natural Remedies
  • Health
  • Green Living
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Sweeteners / What is Allulose? Is it Truly a “Keto Sugar”?

What is Allulose? Is it Truly a “Keto Sugar”?

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • What is Allulose?
  • Allulose Manufacturing
  • Is Allulose Safe?
  • Allulose on Food Labels
  • Keto Sugar?

Allulose is an alternative sweetener that tastes like white sugar and does not affect blood sugar or insulin. What you need to know to determine if it is a good choice for your family.

allulose sweetener

Allulose is one of the newest in a slew of alternative sweeteners flooding the market.

And, even if you don’t plan to use it in your home, listen up!

You’re going to need to know about it anyway!

What is Allulose?

Allulose is what’s known as a “rare sugar”. This is because only a few foods like corn, wheat, figs, and raisins contain it.

The good news is that allulose is a monosaccharide. This single sugar molecular status means that it is legal for those on the gut healing GAPS diet because it is technically in the same category as honey and fruit.

Here are five fast facts about allulose that tells you everything you need to know:

  1. The chemical structure is almost identical to fructose.
  2. The look and taste is virtually the same as white sugar with no aftertaste issues.
  3. Allulose contains 10% of the calories of white sugar.
  4. Allulose is 70% as sweet as white sugar.
  5. British manufacturer Tate & Lyle claims that allulose is non-glycemic (does not affect blood sugar or insulin) because 84% is excreted in the urine without being metabolized.

What does #5 above remind you of?

To me, it sounds similar to the marketing tagline used to hasten the acceptance of the sugar substitute sucralose into the marketplace.

Mmmm.

Not so coincidental in fact!

Tate & Lyle is the same refined sugar giant that brought us Splenda®, the best-known brand name of sucralose. Incidentally, the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Microbiology published an ominous study in 2019 raising concerns about the use of sucralose during pregnancy and breastfeeding along with the alternative sweetener acesulfame K. (1)

Allulose Manufacturing

Guess which crop Tate & Lyle uses to manufacture allulose?

Not such a hard question, right?

Of course, it is CORN, one of the cheapest, most highly subsidized crops in the world!

The process of making allulose is quite simple in fact.

Extract the d-fructose from corn (90+% chance it’s genetically modified Round-up Ready too), and then treat the fructose with an enzyme that rearranges the molecular structure into d-psicose, otherwise known as allulose. (2)

Is Allulose Safe?

The official FDA answer to this question is yes, allulose is a safe sweetener. In fact, the FDA has granted allulose coveted GRAS status (Generally Recognized as Safe). (3)

The truth is that the science is far from settled! Research to date consists of animal studies on rats and mice only. No high quality, placebo-controlled studies on large numbers of people exist at the present time.

Thus, whether you accept the FDA’s assessment at face value will probably depend on how you feel about GMOs in general.

If you are concerned about the growing number of multi-million dollar judgments against Roundup and its manufacturer Bayer (the company that merged with/bought out Monsanto), then you probably will take pains to avoid allulose since it is primarily made from glyphosate drenched GMO corn.

If you think GMOs are just fine and dandy, destined to feed the world, and that people who avoid them are science deniers, then you won’t mind chowing down on foods that contain it.

Allulose on Food Labels

Do you fall into the skeptical camp when it comes to allulose given that there are no high-quality studies about its effect on human health and the poor track record of alternative sweeteners in general? (4)

If so, then listen up!

Not only has the FDA granted allulose GRAS status, but it has even allowed manufacturers to leave it completely off the “Total” and “Added Sugars” section of the nutritional label!

This means that you will need to read labels very, very carefully if you want to avoid this sweetener!

At first glance, a food may look like it has little to no sugar in it, but perusing the ingredients may tell a very different story if allulose appears somewhere in the ingredients.

Since the word “allulose” doesn’t even sound like a sweetener, so much the sneakier. It sounds more like the common food ingredient “cellulose”, a fiber found in green vegetables.

This is the very first time the FDA has approved a sugar to NOT be included as part of the total or added sugars categories on food labels.

The shocking decision came in response to a petition made from allulose manufacturer Tate & Lyle to the FDA.

Keto Sugar?

Breakfast cereal subscription start-up Magic Spoon, which markets its products as “perfect for anyone on a ketogenic or low carb diet” is slated to be the first product to contain phantom sugar allulose. (5)

It sure won’t be the last given that allulose is being marketed with the oxymoronic catchphrase “keto sugar”.

With the first unlabeled caloric sweetener now approved, food manufacturers will no doubt be falling all over themselves to sign a deal with Tate & Lyle to include allulose in their products.

That’s the endgame after all, right?

A sweet deal for food manufacturers that’s sure to leave a sour taste in the mouths of consumers.

References

(1) Splenda® Sucralose
(2) Preparation of d-psicose from d-fructose by immobilized d-tagatose 3-epimerase
(3) Allulose GRAS
(4) No Evidence of Sugar Substitutes Health Benefits
(5) Rare Sugar Gets a Hall Pass from the FDA

FacebookPinEmailPrint
Category: Sweeteners
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: the bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

You May Also Like

Beware Grade B Maple Syrup Trickery

Does Cooking Honey Make it Toxic?

Does Cooking Honey Make it Toxic?

gut harming sugar alcohol on a wooden scoop

The Dangers of Consuming Sugar Alcohols

Glycerin. When it's Safe and When it's Toxic

Glycerin. When it’s Safe and When it’s Toxic

8 Reasons to Avoid Agave (and what to use instead)

Creamed Honey: Why We Love It and How to Make It!

Creamed Honey: Why We Love It and How to Make It!

Going to the Doctor a Little Too Often?

Get a free chapter of my book Traditional Remedies for Modern Families + my newsletter and learn how to put Nature’s best remedies to work for you today!

We send no more than one email per week. You will never be spammed or your email sold, ever.
Loading

Reader Interactions

Comments (26)

  1. Diane

    Jun 17, 2022 at 1:57 pm

    I’m reading Dr Perlmutter’s new book “Drop Acid” (uric acid), and he suggests allulose as an alternative sweetner :(, along with stevia, monk and small amounts of honey.

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope

      Jun 18, 2022 at 8:16 am

      A doctor who is promoting this toxic sweetener that you can easily see is dangerous by examining the research is clearly doing it for the money. What these celebrity diet doctors commonly do is say enough things that are correct to obtain the trust of the unsuspecting alternative health fan reader, then put out things that are profit-driven only which takes people down the wrong path but makes them a ton in promo money.

  2. Chris

    Jun 19, 2019 at 12:17 pm

    When you know Tate & Lyle, you don’t want anything from them.

    Reply
  3. Kira Miftari

    May 19, 2019 at 6:45 pm

    Hi Sarah:) I think I found a really good sugar substitute no one is taking about – it is called BochaSweet – zero calories, zero glycemic response… Seems like a great option! Thoughts?

    Reply
  4. Geniel

    Apr 27, 2019 at 2:01 am

    Hi Sarah, so what sugar substitute do you use at your house? What would you recommend out of them all?

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      Apr 27, 2019 at 7:59 am

      I use stevia drops occasionally in beverages. We don’t use sugar substitutes other than that. Just whole sweeteners in moderation.

  5. De

    Apr 26, 2019 at 10:08 am

    Would LOVE to hear what your knowledge is on non-dairy cheeses and which, if any, are “safe” to use. Especially Violife and Follow Your Heart brands. Thanks so much! I enjoy your emails SO MUCH!! I so trust your expertise!!

    Reply
    • Sarah Pope MGA

      Apr 26, 2019 at 11:12 am

      I have not investigated any of the non-dairy cheese brands. Good idea!

« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

The Healthy Home Economist

Since 2002, Sarah has been a Health and Nutrition Educator dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. Read More

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Check Out My Books

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

Contact the Healthy Home Economist. The information on this website has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. By accessing or using this website, you agree to abide by the Terms of Service, Full Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure, and Comment Policy.

Copyright © 2009–2023 · The Healthy Home Economist · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!