I never imagined that the moon cakes were found like this: # Zhihu moon cakes have loose bowels #. In this regard, Zhihu chose maltitol instead of sucrose for the sake of low-sugar health, but ignored the fact that maltitol might lead to intolerance among some people.

I thought it was a food safety problem, but it turned out that the maltitol content in the formula was too high. ...

What is maltitol?

Maltitol is a synthetic sugar alcohol substance, which is difficult to digest in human body and has low energy value. Maltitol is often added to food as a substitute for sugar. However, sugar alcohol has a characteristic, and eating too much may cause gastrointestinal discomfort or diarrhea.

Can moon cakes containing maltitol still be eaten?

Some netizens calculated that in a 75g osmanthus moon cake, maltitol content accounts for 50%. Clinical data show that a single intake of 20g maltitol may cause diarrhea in some people with gastrointestinal sensitivity, and a single intake of 50g may cause diarrhea in half of the people. According to this data, eating one or more moon cakes at a time has a high probability of diarrhea. It is relatively safe to eat 1/4~ 1/2 moon cakes at a time.

Is there a regulation on the dosage of maltitol in China?

At present, in China's national standards, maltitol can be used as a food additive in cakes, food fillings, biscuits and other foods. It needs to be used in moderation according to production needs, and there is no specific limit. Therefore, Zhihu moon cake itself does meet the relevant standards of food industry, but from a professional and scientific point of view, the risk of diarrhea caused by excessive intake of maltitol was not considered at the beginning, and the formula itself also had some problems.

This incident also tells us a problem from the side, don't pursue sugar-free and low-sugar products too much. If you are worried about the high energy of moon cakes, you can actually eat less. After all, Mid-Autumn Festival only comes once a year ~