Brooklyn Creamery Ice Cream: A Diabetic’s Perspective

A little while ago, a friend sent over a couple of tubs of ice cream. He said they were a relatively new entrant to the market and claimed to be Diabetes friendly.

On examining the printed ingredients on the pack, I found the two primary sweeteners to be:

• Maltitol is a polyol or sugar alcohol, is lower (2.4 kcal/gm) in calories than sugar (4 kcal/gm), results in a reduced glycaemic response, and does not aid in tooth decay or spikes/sudden increases in blood glucose levels. It can cause flatulence and laxative effects when consumed in larger quantities. ^​1–3​
• Fructose Oligosaccharides are a class of dietary fibre that isn’t fully digested by the body, delivers 2 kcal/gm of energy and can reduce post-prandial blood glucose response. It can cause laxative among other non-serious, undesirable gastrointestinal effects, especially with over-consumption.^​1​

While these additives are considered safe, the combination of these two sweeteners in foods was studied, and found they can be jointly used in sugar-free foods, and do deliver the benefit of reduced post-prandial blood glucose response. The downside is a small and transient increase in non-serious gastrointestinal symptoms. ^​1​

There is however the possibility of a hypersensitive reaction to Maltitol, as seen in a 60 year old man (with a history of hypothyroidism and cutaneous psoriasis) after consuming a candy that was sweetened with Maltitol syrup. ^​4​

Given the product claims to have lower fat and calories in comparison to other products, and both, fat and calories are a matter of consideration for diabetics, that’s good news too. ^​5​

All in all, based on the above findings, I thought the products safe for my own consumption and that of my family, and we proceeded to demolish the lot.