Splenda(id) Chocolate

[jhlurie]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up Sebastian, especially the issue of Splenda being digestible. So I suppose its not ACTUALLY zero calories, its just close enough because of its miniscule quantity that legally its permissible to label it that way?

I'm curious... do you think that this "texture" issue is something Steven Shaw and I have convinced ourselves of to explain something we don't quite have the right words for? I mean, there are probably a lot of reasons that a Valrohna chocolate bar is going to be better than even the best Carb-Free bar, and we focused pretty quickly on that idea.

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fendel... see up-topic. Several of us have liked Z-Carb much more than At Last. Frankly, and I won't pull my punches, I though At Last tasted like sewage. So see if you can find Z-Carb in your area.

Then again I also said that NONE of them was really good enough (yet) to serve as a real alternative to chocolate for me--a non-Atkins/non-diabetic (for the moment... my family history is just waiting to swoop down on me), so really I'm biased against ALL of them.

[fendel]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up Sebastian, especially the issue of Splenda being digestible. So I suppose its not ACTUALLY zero calories, its just close enough because of its miniscule quantity that legally its permissible to label it that way?

. . . .

fendel... see up-topic. Several of us have liked Z-Carb much more than At Last.  Frankly, and I won't pull my punches, I though At Last tasted like sewage.  So see if you can find Z-Carb in your area.

Then again I also said that NONE of them was really good enough (yet) to serve as a real alternative to chocolate for me--a non-Atkins/non-diabetic (for the moment... my family history is just waiting to swoop down on me), so really I'm biased against ALL of them. 

The Splenda you buy in stores has carbs because of the bulking agent (maltodextrin, IIRC). About 24g per cup of granular or per 24 packets. It's unfortunate that they're bulking it up with a high-glycemic substance. Why not a soluble fiber instead...

If you see sucralose on a product label, however, there's no carbs from it because they're using pure sucralose.

As for At Last, yeah, the more of it I eat, the less enthusiastic I get. "It doesn't give me gas!" is just not a good enough reason to eat something. I've drifted back to the maltitol-based chocolate that tastes more like decent chocolate. I'll be ordering more Elite bars from One-Stop Sugarless Shopwhen the weather cools down more, and one of my local markets now carries Guylian sugar-free chocolate, which is OK. (The Elite stuff has a higher carb count, maybe because it contains milk powder, but it's actually GOOD.)

I'll have to see if Z-Carb is available around here. I guess I have some motivation to stick to the sugarless stuff; I need to lose some weight and sugar tends to make me crash rather badly (tired, irritable, foggy after the blood sugar plummets -- reactive hypoglycemia, maybe).

[Stone]

I just bought some Splenda. It's not that bad. It's sweet, but not overly so. The look and texture reminds me of the sugar frosting from Frosted Mini Wheats (or at least what I remember it to be).

[Sebastian]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up Sebastian, especially the issue of Splenda being digestible. So I suppose its not ACTUALLY zero calories, its just close enough because of its miniscule quantity that legally its permissible to label it that way?

I'm curious... do you think that this "texture" issue is something Steven Shaw and I have convinced ourselves of to explain something we don't quite have the right words for?  I mean, there are probably a lot of reasons that a Valrohna chocolate bar is going to be better than even the best Carb-Free bar, and we focused pretty quickly on that idea.

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fendel... see up-topic. Several of us have liked Z-Carb much more than At Last.  Frankly, and I won't pull my punches, I though At Last tasted like sewage.  So see if you can find Z-Carb in your area.

Then again I also said that NONE of them was really good enough (yet) to serve as a real alternative to chocolate for me--a non-Atkins/non-diabetic (for the moment... my family history is just waiting to swoop down on me), so really I'm biased against ALL of them. 

yup - pretty much. anything you consume at 0.00x% isn't going to give you any measurable calories 8-) as for the texture issue, it could be a few things. the most likely is that you're supersensitive to solids soluability - ie, sucrose (table sugar) has a very distincitive soluability pattern that's attractive to most folks. Erythritol and inulin have different soluabilities, and it could be that you're picking up on that. The chocolates you're eating have much higher fat content than typical chocolates, and even higher than some premium mainstream chocolates - the higher the fat content the more satisfying the mouthfeel. It could be that american customers simply aren't accustomed to very high end chocolate (most of us grew up on Hershey's), and react to that difference with dislike. The two are somewhat related, as the solids are going to be dispersed throughout the cocoa butter, and a good many of them will simply be swallowed in the cocoa butter w/o ever having a chance to dissolve in the moisture of your mouth.

Normally, mouthfeel is more greatly associated with the fat used than the solids bulking the product, and in this case, the cocoa butter being used in all of these products is the same as the cocoa butter being used in the high end sugar containing products as well.

To address Fendels points - Splenda uses maltodextrin because it's a cheap carrier - fibers will cut into their margins. I've not seen the Elite sf products, but if they're using milk powder, they're likely not sugar free products, but no sugar added (the milk powder will contribute lactose..). A NSA product will almost always be preferable to a SF product - sugars are desireable.

[fendel]

I've not seen the Elite sf products, but if they're using milk powder, they're likely not sugar free products, but no sugar added (the milk powder will contribute lactose..).  A NSA product will almost always be preferable to a SF product - sugars are desireable.

Bet that's why my significant other mistook the Elite bar for regular, sugar-added chocolate. Hmm. Thanks for the tip on that.

I wish Splenda would put a liquid version on the market. I suppose they'd either have to dilute it to a ridiculous extent or charge a stunning sum for a tiny bottle of the stuff, but a lot of LC dieters would like to avoid the carbs from the maltodextrin in granular Splenda. I know a source for a sucralose-based liquid "syrup concentrate," but it's a small and little-known coop with a long shipping delay, not as convenient as picking something off the shelf at the supermarket.

[Sebastian]

I wish Splenda would put a liquid version on the market. I suppose they'd either have to dilute it to a ridiculous extent or charge a stunning sum for a tiny bottle of the stuff, but a lot of LC dieters would like to avoid the carbs from the maltodextrin in granular Splenda. I know a source for a sucralose-based liquid "syrup concentrate," but it's a small and little-known coop with a long shipping delay, not as convenient as picking something off the shelf at the supermarket.

At least on an industrial scale, I know it exists - I have a few gallons of it. No idea if they market such a beast in the consumer world, however..

[mags]

I wish Splenda would put a liquid version on the market. I suppose they'd either have to dilute it to a ridiculous extent or charge a stunning sum for a tiny bottle of the stuff, but a lot of LC dieters would like to avoid the carbs from the maltodextrin in granular Splenda. I know a source for a sucralose-based liquid "syrup concentrate," but it's a small and little-known coop with a long shipping delay, not as convenient as picking something off the shelf at the supermarket.

At least on an industrial scale, I know it exists - I have a few gallons of it. No idea if they market such a beast in the consumer world, however..

Sadly, no. It was, briefly, available to consumers via online retailers, but McNeil took it off the consumer market -- with no reason given -- about two years ago. It is still sold at a consumer level in some other countries (notably Brazil), but McNeil has offered no indication that it will be returned to U.S. supermarket shelves.

Wanna sell a gallon, Sebastian? Heck, wanna sell a pint? I got some crisp greenbacks with your name on'em.

[Sebastian]

Sadly, no.  It was, briefly, available to consumers via online retailers, but McNeil took it off the consumer market -- with no reason given -- about two years ago.  It is still sold at a consumer level in some other countries (notably Brazil), but McNeil has offered no indication that it will be returned to U.S. supermarket shelves. 

Wanna sell a gallon, Sebastian?  Heck, wanna sell a pint? I got some crisp greenbacks with your name on'em.

I've got 4 8.8lb (1 gallon) containers that are a 25% solution of sucralose that I don't need anymore. Let me know what interests you and I'm sure we can work something out.

sebvad@mail.ru

[carbless]

Several of us have liked Z-Carb much more than At Last.  Frankly, and I won't pull my punches, I though At Last tasted like sewage.  So see if you can find Z-Carb in your area.

I have found Z Carb 's website at www.zcarbbar.com. They are selling their bars by the box. If you are really into low carb stuff it might be the way to go. I bought some but then again I love them

I have also seen on a diabetes forum that people have found them at Wal-mart and Target but none in my area but others might find them there.

Edited September 18, 2003 by carbless (log)

[pitti]

I was searching for At Last bars which I've just heard about and stumbled onto this interesting site. I'm newly diabetic and you've saved me a lot of research on my favorite food- chocolate.

I have actually found one sugar free chocolate that tastes good. Nothing is as good as "real" chocolate but this comes close. It's called Cavalier and the ingredients are less horrifying than most of the sugarfree:

Ingredients: maltitol, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk protein, butter oil, hazelnuts, emulsifier: soy lecithin, flavouring: vanilla.

[carbless]

Cavalier sounds ok but unfortunately Maltitol is not! There is a site out there nomaltitol.com that definitely makes you think twice about eating it. I have heard some bad stories. So I would stick to anything that didn't include that in it's ingredients.

[mags]

I went to the website and I have to confess, I'm kind of mystified as to what you saw that you found so distressing. Yeah, maltitol can cause uhhh...."gastrointestinal distress" in some people, particularly if eaten in quantity. But so can almost all the sugar alchohols/polyols. Personally, I'm hugely sensitive to the lactitol that's used to make Hershey's sugar-free chocolates: One of them little bitty Reese's peanut butter cups, and I'm unfit for human companionship. But maltitol... doesn't bother me.

If you want to steer clear of the fake sugars on the grounds of their being fake, I can certainly understand that. But I don't see anything about maltitol that's worse than any of the others. And no, I don't have any financial interest in the stuff.

[KarenS]

This is taken from an article in today's SF Chronicle.

"Low-carb foods won't kill you, she says. What's replacing many of the carbohydrates is lots of fiber and fillers like carrageenan and guar gums. "They're not great tasting," but they hold moisture and also can help the body shed cholesterol, she says.

The sweeteners, too, are generally considered safe. But if you eat too much of foods loaded with sugar alcohols like maltitol or sorbitol, you're likely to pay with gross intestinal distress. "You better bring your Pampers," she says.

The real concern is protein -- too much of it. All the low-carb products are crammed with protein, and are usually eaten on top of a meat- and egg-based diet already rich in proteins.

If, like Monette Meo, you eat low-carb cereal for breakfast, a couple of tortillas at lunch, some crackers for a snack and a cookie after dinner, you've already consumed 91 grams of protein. Add 8 ounces of meat or fish, and you're at 155 grams, Bennett says. That's more than three times the 45 grams needed by the average woman, 2 1/2 times a man's needs.

All that protein makes the kidneys work much harder and requires drinking plenty of water, Bennett says. Getting rid of all the protein byproducts take a lot of calcium out of the body, and eating a lot of protein is one reason American women are prone to osteoporosis even without the low carb diets.

Calories are another consideration. Most of the low-carb breads, crackers,

cereals, ice creams, chips and pasta have just as many calories as their regular counterparts, according to a Chronicle comparison. Candy, diet soda and the pizza have less. "

[misstenacity]

FYI, I just visited the z-carb website and they do now have dark chocolate varieties....

www.zcarbbar.com

...I recall some of you were interested in that.

Miss Tenacity

[jhlurie]

Nice to see eGullet enshrined on the ZCarb website as part of that Time Magazine article. I don't know about Coastcat, but I'm still waiting for my case of complimentiary low carb chocolate bars. (kidding)

I suppose, as a follow up, I'm obliged to try the Dark Chocolate ZCarbs, so I'll go hunt in 7-11. But I will not, I repeat NOT, buy any more of those putrid Carbolite things. EVER.

[Fernanda]

Reading through this thread, I have a question.

For people who don't have to avoid chocolate althogether, why not just eat a small piece of regular chocolate instead of a whole bar of low-carb chocolate?

[fendel]

For people who don't have to avoid chocolate althogether, why not just eat a small piece of regular chocolate instead of a whole bar of low-carb chocolate?

That's an easy one.

More chocolate.

[claire797]

Splenda also doesn't taste like sugar.  It's a big step up from Equal and Sweet n Low, but it still has a kind of flat, metallic edge....at least to me.

I taste the metallic edge too -- especially in baked goods. I've had to throw stuff out.

[mags]

Don't mean to repeat myself, BUT I've had very good success by combining Splenda with Erythritol. They seem to cancel out each other's downsides.

[Mistinguett]

I've been making chocolate truffles with unsweetened chocolate (Calebault) and Splenda for weeks now and I can't taste anything funny, they're absolutely delicios. I use about 5 packs of Splenda for 8 oz. of chocolate. For whipped cream - 1 pack to 1 cup heavy cream. I have no complains.

As for bars, there's an Atkins bar with peanuts that I tried and liked, and Think Thin Lo-Carb I find pretty good (Chocolate Fudge) and the right size.

[zora]

This thread may be a little old, but for the record, I just ate a couple of Z Carb Gourmet Dark Chocolate bars with Soy Crisps...

I'm not on a diet and generally avoid all kinds of pseudo-foods--they were just in the unwanted-swag box here at work, and I was desperate.

But they were pretty damn good. Not very sweet, which was nice, and rare in a lower-end chocolate. The soy crisp just added texture--didn't dilute the chocolate flavor too much. I wouldn't seek them out, but as long as they're sitting here for free...

The labeling is kind of funny: there's a separate "functional ingredients" list that includes serotonin and andamide. No wonder I feel so happy. But that "zero laxative effect" in big letters--very off-putting.

[CompassRose]

This thread is very old...

but I'm sad that there is still no low-carb chocolate with NO sugar alcohols whatsoever. I seem to be extremely sensitive to them. All of them. And we're not just talking gas here.

Apart from the Unfortunate Results, my favourite of the low-carb bars I've tried were the Labrada Carb-Watchers chocolates. They're truffle bars, and to me they tasted quite convincing, pretty comparable to a Lindt or similar medium-fancy treat.

But I just can't have them. So I settle for restrained single squares of Michel Cluizel 99% instead -- poor me! Very ladylike -- but still, the More Chocolate thing is there! Sadly, the longer I go with this hypoglycemia problem, the more pronounced it gets, and choc. plus sugar seems to be a major trigger.

[jhlurie]

I'm revisiting this thread after many moons away, because I just noticed a new product by Z-Carb in the local Seven Dash Eleven.

Outside package: Z-Carb PB&Z

It's not zero carbs, but it's reasonably low--at least if you believe the claims of differences between "Impact Carbs" and carbs which don't affect blood sugar levels. If you are sceptical of those claims and count ALL carbs in the thing, it's actually pretty high--15.5g per serving, of which they count only 1.7g as having real impact on blood sugar levels due to large amounts, relatively, of Inulin and Erythritol.

Inside the package is something which looks a lot like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. However, once you bite in, you immediately notice that the chocolate is thicker and less waxy than your standard Reese's, and the Peanut Butter is well.... less overwhelmingly sweetened. It's good--QUITE good actually--I don't have any of the minor reservations I had about the normal Z-Carb Bars. Like them, there is no Malitol, and some use of Splenda--along with tons of yummy milk fat, cocoa butter, and good stuff like that. This thing is NOT low fat in any way, shape or form, even if you can work it around to being low carb in your mind. The taste is somewhat closer to the homemade peanut butter cups you might get in a confectionary store as opposed to anything made by a mega-food-corp. Also, because of the thicker chocolate, it seems like a more substantial snack than a single Reese's cup would be.

Thumbs up on this one.

There's also apparently another new product called "Zeros" (click here), which isn't described very well on that linked page, but if you look at the closeup photo available there, it appears to be chocolate covered almonds.