Erythritol: Is It Safe? What the Research Says

3 min read By Mataye

In brief

Erythritol safety: EFSA's 2023 intake limit, the laxative effect, the 2023 and 2024 heart studies, and what it means for a cup of coffee.

Erythritol: what the research says

Erythritol is a polyol sweetener with almost no calories. It is what lightly sweetens Mataye Mushroom Coffee. EFSA re-evaluated it in 2023 and set an acceptable daily intake, but studies in 2023 and 2024 raised heart questions. Here is what they actually show, without overstating it either way.

Erythritol at a glance

Question What the research says
Calories Almost none
Acceptable intake 0.5 g per kg of body weight a day, or 35 g for 70 kg (EFSA 2023)
Effect at high doses Laxative
Heart An association in at-risk patients, and higher platelet reactivity after 30 g (Witkowski 2023, 2024). No proof of cause and effect yet
In a Mataye serving Under 2.5 g: the serving is 6 g, of which 3.5 g is mushroom

What is erythritol?

Erythritol is a polyol made by fermentation. The body absorbs most of it and passes it out almost unchanged in urine (EFSA 2023). It provides very few calories, which is why it appears in "sugar-free" products.

Erythritol side effects: the laxative effect

In 2023 the European Food Safety Authority re-evaluated erythritol (E 968) and set an acceptable daily intake of 0.5 g per kg of body weight per day. That level protects against the laxative effect, the main adverse effect seen. For a 70 kg adult it is 35 g a day.

Erythritol and the heart: the 2023 and 2024 studies

A study in Nature Medicine (Witkowski et al., 2023) measured erythritol in the blood of patients having heart risk checks, in the US (2,149 people) and Europe (833 people). Those with the highest levels had more heart attacks, strokes and deaths over three years than those with the lowest: about 1.8 times the risk in the US group and 2.2 times in the European group.

That is an association, not proof of cause, and these patients already had heart risk. In lab tests erythritol made platelets more reactive, and in animals it promoted clotting. In a small pilot of 8 people, blood levels stayed raised for more than two days after taking it. The authors call for long-term safety studies.

A second study (Witkowski et al., 2024) gave healthy volunteers a drink with 30 g of erythritol or 30 g of glucose (10 per group). After erythritol, blood levels rose more than 1,000-fold and platelets reacted more strongly; after glucose they did not.

What it means for a cup of coffee

The 2024 study used a single 30 g dose. A serving of Mataye Mushroom Coffee has far less: the whole serving is 6 g, of which 3.5 g is mushroom, plus the coffee, so under 2.5 g is left for erythritol. For example, even three servings a day come to under 7.5 g, less than a quarter of that dose. For its caffeine, see mushroom coffee caffeine.

Whether small daily amounts affect the heart is not yet known. If you have heart disease, a history of clots or stroke, or high risk, talk to your doctor; you can also choose an unsweetened coffee.

Erythritol and diabetes

Erythritol has almost no calories and the body passes most of it out unchanged (EFSA 2023). Diabetes raises cardiovascular risk, so if you have diabetes, read the heart section above and ask your doctor.

Read next

Mushroom coffee side effects, mushroom coffee benefits and our mushroom coffee guide. Mataye Mushroom Coffee: 22.8 kcal and 45 mg of caffeine per serving, no added sugar.

Sources

  • EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (2023). Re-evaluation of erythritol (E 968) as a food additive. EFSA Journal 21(12):e8430. PubMed 38125972
  • EFSA (2023), Re-evaluation of erythritol (E 968) as a food additive, EFSA Journal
  • Witkowski M et al. (2023). The artificial sweetener erythritol and cardiovascular event risk. Nature Medicine 29(3):710-718. PubMed 36849732
  • Witkowski M et al. (2024). Ingestion of the non-nutritive sweetener erythritol, but not glucose, enhances platelet reactivity and thrombosis potential in healthy volunteers. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 44(9):2136-2141. PubMed 39114916

More guides