What is everyone's take on monk fruit with erythritol? I am deciding if i should switch to just solely stick to monk fruit for my product.
The only reason why im not wanting to use it as it is considered artificial
Would love to hear some thoughts.
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Hello Salena, Unfortunately Monkfruit is only allowed as a tabletop sweetener in Canada. We have heard from other companies who would like tou se it as an alternative in their products but as of today it has not been approved. Reach out if you wanted to chat. Stay warm! Caroline
I find that to be an interesting take on alternative sugars. I have used many products with Monkfruit as its alternative sugar source, albeit, they may have been of US origin.
Can you share the documatation that omits it as a production food ingredient?
You are not the only one who has had this question, monk fruit is allowed as an ingredient but monk fruit extract is not at the moment. Stevia started this way as well, it took a few years for Health Canada to approve it as a sweetener. I work with the label regulations specifically, the science behind the scenes is not in my wheelhouse but I am sure someone here will know.
These are the CFIA/HC references for Monk Fruit Extract. I hope it helps :-)
| M.4 | Monk Fruit Extract | n/a |
Table-top sweeteners |
Sweetener |
8,000 ppm calculated as mogroside V |
NOM/ADM-0019 |
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/public-involvement-partnerships/notice-proposal-modernize-lists-permitted-food-additives/draft-sweeteners.html
Monk fruit ingredients
Monk fruit extract is included in Health Canada's List of permitted sweeteners with authorized use in table-top sweetenersFootnote 1 only. The mandatory labelling requirements applicable are those for all sweeteners.
In contrast, other monk fruit ingredients such as monk fruit juice concentrate are not considered as sweeteners, but are considered as acceptable food ingredients because of their lower mogroside V content. Monk fruit ingredients added to food products following good manufacturing practice must be labelled appropriately. See List of ingredients for details.
Monk Fruit grows on a vine, so it is not artificial. And monk fruit extract is filtered from the fruit so also considered natural. Erythritol sounds like it's artificial, but it occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables. Commercial volumes are fermented naturally.
If your product is sold in the States or other countries where regulations permit, you can manufacture in Canada. It is true that Health Canada allows monk fruit juice concentrate as an ingredient. We have an ample supply of monk fruit juice concentrate in Burnaby, both syrup and dry powder format.