I have used Splenda Naturals, a new zero calorie sweetener blend of erythritol and stevia, there times in the last two days. It claims to overcome the problem of stevia’s bitter aftertaste, and does so fairly well. But despite Wikipedia’s assertion that erythritol has very little laxative effect compared to other sugar alcohols (which do not affect me), this stuff could prep me for a colonoscopy. 
“Caveat emptier”!
It could be that you are just different. These warnings or descriptions are for the general population, but there will be some individual differences? Alternatively, it would be just bad timing? You just happened to have a bad digestion at the same time you took the Splenda Naturals.
Cheaper than one of those fancy juice cleanses!
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No cramping or other GI symptoms. Since I didn’t eat anything unusual, or anything I didn’t myself prepare, and feel fine otherwise, I am confident it’s the sweetener. I can’t be sure if I have ever consumed erythritol before.
Did you dine at chipotle lately?
I can’t deal with sugar alcohols at all- i just get terrible bloating and stomach cramps but can link the two definitively to things i ate with sugar alcohols. Apparently a lot of people have problems to digest them (or not!)
Funny. Ha
Are there sugar free or low carb sweeteners that you do find tolerable?
As a pastry chef, I’ve always been kind of a purist, but as a business owner I’m curious about demand for sugar-free and/or low-carb/keto foods. My local grocer has xylitol, another-itol, monkfruit, stevia … but I don’t know, they seem too processed and then there’s the side effects. Would you rather have a really dark chocolate with a little bit of cane sugar, or a sweeter chocolate with fake sugar?
Mr. Purist. (kidding). We often think of cane sugar as the standard sugar. However, I just read that honey is the original sweetener. Apparently, Indians were among the first to take advantage of cane sugar, and then the Chinese. The Europeans only bought back the sugar cane concept during the Crusade:
"The most important of the food products going to the West was sugar that the Crusaders found already under cultivation when they conquered these territories. They learned from the Arabs and continued its cultivation, with the main center of the industry in Tyre in Lebanon. In fact, nearly all the sugar consumed in Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries came from Outremer (the European name for the Crusader lands in the East). "
http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/23/id/99/
“Crusaders brought sugar home with them to Europe after their campaigns in the Holy Land, where they encountered caravans carrying “sweet salt”. Early in the 12th century, Venice acquired some villages near Tyre and set up estates to produce sugar for export to Europe, where it supplemented honey, which had previously been the only available sweetener.”
“It is thought that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia from where it spread to India. In 510 BC the Emperor Darius of what was then Persia invaded India where he found “the reed which gives honey without bees”. The secret of cane sugar, as with many other of man’s discoveries, was kept a closely guarded secret whilst the finished product was exported for a rich profit.”
http://www.sucrose.com/lhist.html
So, I guess baking in honey would be the most original form – possibly?
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I have tried monkfruit sweetner and it’s fairly promising - no icky taste like stevia, and no risk of unpleasantness from sugar alcohols.
The number of customers looking for sugar free desserts is definitely on the rise, both due to the sugar is evil cultural mentality as well as those with medical conditions (diabetes, pre-diabetes, etc) or any of the various diets that prohibit actual sugar.
I’ve tried the Hu foods chocolates, they actually do use a bit of coconut sugar in it, they don’t have nutritional facts there but i want to say it was less than 10g sugar in a bar. (It was a free tasting that i tried them, i certainly didn’t pay their outrageous retail)
All the sugar is from coconut? For the Simple chocolate, it states:
Ingredients: organic fair-trade cacao, unrefined organic coconut sugar, organic fair-trade cocoa butter
The rest of the other chocolates look similar. Interesting idea. I think it is the same as the palm sugar I used for the couple of Vietnamese and Thai dishes I cook.
Must have been those C&H commercials on tv when I was young, I can still hear the jingle … propaganda works!
Ha ha ha. Nah, I am just thinking that cooking and baking must have been very different back then. Back then, sweetener (if it was just honey) couldn’t possibly come easy, and of course, back then salt was difficult to get for much of the world. Nations wage wars for salt…apparently maybe even for cane sugar. 
Just imagine making your dish without salt or sugar or butter…etc. just water with something…and heat up very slowly too (heating couldn’t have been fast and hot back then)
$6.25 for 2 Oz isn’t that bad, imo. I charge more per oz and I was just in a specialty food store where they had some $15 bars. But value does depend on whether they’re actually good!
It seems like coconut sugar is iffy for some diets, especially Keto.
I guess since i am just as happy with a $5/8oz bar of dark chocolate it sounds outrageous to me…!
And you’re certainly not going to come up with something that pleases everyone, depends what your customers are asking/looking.
Could be just an issue of relabeling or repackaging into smaller portions product you already make to highlight the actual sugar grams total
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I know, definitely can’t please everyone, and it’s hard to compete with mass market and Trader Joe’s. I can get a couple of nice 85% dark chocolates at $8-10/lb wholesale, but adding manipulation and packaging to premium ingredients calls for premium pricing.
I did make a savory kale-cashew “white chocolate” for April Fools that was pretty good if you like kale, and my Keto friend at the gym loved it. I think I’d rather stick to little or no real sugar than have potential side effects.
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