NECTRESSE™ Sweetener FAQ - Monk Fruit, Ingredients, Baking, Diabetes

Frequently Asked Questions

What is monk fruit?
What ingredients are in NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener?
Can you bake/cook with NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener?
Is NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener suitable for people with diabetes to use?

Monk Fruit is a round, green melon that grows on vines on remote mountaintops in central Asia. The fruit has been cultivated for centuries.
An extract from the fruit has been recently re-discovered as an ingredient ideally suited for sweetening foods and beverages. Monk Fruit Extract is about 150X sweeter than sugar and contributes zero calories per serving
of NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener.

NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener is a combination of deliciously sweet Monk Fruit Extract blended with other natural sweeteners
(erythritol, sugar and molasses) to bring you the rich sweet taste of
sugar without all the calories.

Yes, Monk Fruit Extract is heat stable, so you can bake and cook with it. NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener is perfect for sweetening savory sauces like tomato sauce, entrees like chili, homemade jams and jellies, delicious desserts like rice pudding, and so much more. It is important to note, however, that NECTRESSE™ Sweetener is more concentrated than sugar -- ¼ teaspoon of NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener = the sweetness of 1 teaspoon of sugar. For best results in baking, we suggest replacing sugar with our product in small amounts at first, to find the right amount of sweetness for you.

Yes, people with diabetes need to carefully watch the amount of
carbohydrate they eat and NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener
is a great new way for them to reduce calories and carbohydrate from
sugar. In a meal plan for people with diabetes, up to 2 packets or up to
1 teaspoon of NECTRESSE™ Sweetener is considered a "free food".

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Diabetes Association consider a free food to be any food or beverage that contains less than 20 calories and 5 grams or less of carbohydrate per serving.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Diabetes Association consider a free food to be any food or beverage that contains less than 20 calories and 5 grams or less of carbohydrate per serving.

What is NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener?

NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener is a novel sweetener made from the goodness of real fruit, naturally sweet
monk fruit extract. Monk fruit is hand-picked in remote mountain regions and has been cultivated for hundreds of years.
To create NECTRESSE™ Sweetener, we combined deliciously sweet monk fruit extract with the perfect blend of other
natural sweeteners to bring you the rich sweet taste of sugar without all the calories.
What is erythritol?

Erythritol is an all-natural, sugar alcohol that is naturally fermented from sugars and is found in many vegetables and fruits. Erythritol contributes zero calories per serving of NECTRESSE™ Sweetener. Consuming erythritol from NECTRESSE™ Sweetener is not expected to result in laxative or other gastrointestinal effects that are known to sometimes occur with other sugar alcohols.
What is the difference between natural and artificial sweeteners?

McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, the maker of SPLENDA^® Sweeteners, is proud to introduce NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener for those seeking a lower calorie alternative to sugar with the great taste you have come to expect from the SPLENDA^® Brand. Both the natural and artificial no calorie sweeteners that have been approved for use in the US are safe for use as sweetening ingredients. Additionally both natural and artificial no calorie sweeteners are a delicious way to enjoy sweetness without all of the calories from sugar.

Sucralose, the sweetening ingredient in all SPLENDA^® Sweetener Products, has been the subject of extensive safety testing, with more than 20 years of research and over 110 scientific studies.

Monk Fruit Extract, the main sweetening ingredient in our new NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener, is an extract of a fruit that has been cultivated and consumed for centuries. Monk Fruit Extract is considered generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use in food by food safety experts. For those seeking a lower calorie alternative to sugar, NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener is an excellent choice. For many people, it really comes down to personal preference as to which sweetener to use.
Does NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener really have zero calories?

Monk Fruit Extract is about 150X sweeter than sugar and contributes zero calories per serving to NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener. Like other no-calorie sweeteners, NECTRESSE™ Sweetener contains a small amount of carbohydrate (1-2 grams per serving) from other food ingredients to provide needed volume and texture. These food ingredients, which include small amounts of erythritol, sugar, and molasses, contribute so few calories per serving that NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener Products meet the FDA’s criteria for no-calorie foods (<5 calories/serving).
Is NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener gluten-free?

NECTRESSE™ No Calorie Sweetener does not include any gluten containing ingredients.
Is there SPLENDA^® Brand Sweetener in NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener?

No, NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener does not contain SPLENDA^® Brand Sweetener (sucralose); NECTRESSE™ Sweetener gets its delicious no calorie sweetness from Monk Fruit Extract, the natural sweetener made from the goodness of real fruit. Monk Fruit Extract is an exciting new 100% natural sweetening ingredient that is about 150X sweeter than sugar, and contributes zero calories per serving to NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener
How sweet is NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener?

NECTRESSE™ Natural No Calorie Sweetener is more concentrated in sweetness than sugar, so a little goes a long way.
¼ teaspoon of NECTRESSE™ Sweetener is equal to the sweetness of 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 packet of NECTRESSE™ Sweetener is equal to the sweetness of 2 teaspoons of sugar