Poll of the Day > Why isn't there that many options for candy with artificial sweetener?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like, you can't find sucralose jujubes or licorice and such.

ALSO... why is artificial sweetener always an all-or-nothing deal? I mean, the point is to reduce calories... you don't have to eliminate them, why not go half-n-half?

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I know there is artificially sweetened hot chocolate, but I don't recommend it (tastes ok, but it does not digest properly...). I think there might be similar problems with candy, where artificial sweeteners are 0 calorie because they don't digest... but if they don't digest and that's all they have to them... that does not turn out well...

mixing them, I'm not sure. probably it would end up being "worst of both worlds". slightly off taste + indigestion + tooth decay + calories + hypoglycemic reaction. the reason you would use artificial sweetener in the first place is to trade one set of problems for a hopefully better set, but combining them just gives you all the bad all at once.

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these are stevia sweetened and good as hell if you like salmiak/salty black licorice

https://www.amazon.com/Lakerol-Salmiak-Licorice-24-0-80oz/dp/B00FGZC6QU/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=lakerol+salmiak&qid=1598717089&sr=8-1

edit: and they also have other flavors for uncool people

Cuz dey NASTY

If anything, NA should stat moving to Cane sugar over High-Fructose Corn Syrup

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Ogurisama posted...

If anything, NA should stat moving to Cane sugar over High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Mostly I was curious why there's no artificial sweetener candy aside from gum, or half'n'half except for rare cases (like some colas)

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A lot of candy making (literally) boils down to boiling sugar until it reaches a certain temperature, corresponding to how much water is left in it and the physical properties that entails. Once you pass ~220F, you've boiled off enough water that you've got a supersaturated solution, and it just keeps getting more saturated until you completely run out of water around 340-350 (which is also when you get caramelization happening, then eventually burning). Generally speaking, artificial sweeteners don't display the same physical properties as sugar and/or are used in such tiny quantities (aspartame, for example, is ~200 times sweeter than an equal weight of sugar) that their physical properties aren't relevant, so you have to modify the process considerably to get a comparable product without using sugar itself, and that can get really complicated/expensive depending on what you're trying to do.

That said, jujubes are basically just sweetened gelatin, and licorice is similarly made via other methods then sugar is added for sweetness, rather than relying on the properties of boiled sugar. Sugar-free variants of those are definitely out there, and aren't all that difficult to make. Heck, if you really wanted to, you could probably make some at home.

_AdjI_ posted...

Heck, if you really wanted to, you could probably make some at home.

I do! I even have citric acid powder for making sour ones

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I heard the sugar free gummy bears are a great gift for someone you dislike.

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Because aspartame and other artificial sweeteners give some people (I can't vouch for this I love sugar free gummy bears) the shits.

Now I wish i had a 5lb bag of sugar free gummy bears.

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There are sugar free gummies, but, as judgemenl mentioned, it's an ass-blaster. It apparently makes death farts.

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_AdjI_ posted...

A lot of candy making (literally) boils down to boiling sugar until it reaches a certain temperature,

I was just about to post this. So many kinds of candy rely on heating sugar to just the right temperature.

Heated to the soft ball stage (235F), you can make fudge, pralines and fondant. At the firm ball stage (245F) you can make caramels. Hard ball (250F) gets you nougat, marshmallows, gummies, divinity, and rock candy. If you continue to heat the sugar it becomes brittle, first the soft crack stage (270F), which is used for taffy and butterscotch, and then hard crack (300F), which is used to make all kinds of hard candy, toffee, peanut brittle, and lollipops. At 320F you have no water remaining, just liquid sugar. If you continue to heat this liquid sugar it will begin to caramelize at 338F. And if you continue to heat the sugar to 350F you end up with a horrible burned mess that tastes awful.

Sugar-free hard candies can be made using sugar alcohols such as isomalt, sorbitol, xylitol, or maltitol, but none of these are non-caloric, and if eaten in large quantities can result in gas or diarrhea.

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