What is it?
A rare sugar, also called D-psicose, with the same chemical formula as fructose but a slightly different structure. Small amounts occur naturally in wheat, raisins, dried figs, maple syrup and brown sugar, and it can be made from fructose using enzymes. It is about 70 percent as sweet as table sugar and is used as a low-calorie sweetener in foods, drinks and supplements such as gummies. In cosmetics, where it is listed as psicose, it works as a humectant and skin conditioner.
Key information
- FDA has not objected to three GRAS notices for allulose as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages.
- FDA's 2020 guidance lets manufacturers leave allulose out of Total Sugars and Added Sugars on Nutrition and Supplement Facts labels and count it at 0.4 calories per gram, but it still counts as carbohydrate.
- In 2025 the European Food Safety Authority concluded that the safety of D-allulose as a novel food cannot be established, because the applicant did not supply the data it requested.
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2021 that psicose is safe in cosmetics.
More information
FDA’s review found that about 70 percent of the allulose people eat is passed unchanged in urine and feces, and that it is not readily fermented in the large intestine. On that basis, FDA concluded in its 2020 labeling guidance that allulose provides no more than 0.4 calories per gram, does not promote tooth decay and causes only a negligible rise in blood glucose and insulin. FDA now lets manufacturers leave it out of Total Sugars and Added Sugars on Nutrition and Supplement Facts labels, pending a formal rule, but it must still be counted in Total Carbohydrate. FDA has not objected to three notices concluding that allulose is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a sugar substitute.
The main side effect is digestive. In the tolerance study cited by a 2021 review in the British Journal of Nutrition, severe diarrhea and other gut symptoms appeared at 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, and the researchers suggested limits of 0.4 g/kg in a single dose and 0.9 g/kg a day. The review called allulose safe for human use but noted a lack of human studies at realistic intakes and open questions, such as whether some gut bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, can use it to grow.
Europe has not reached the same view. In 2025 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that the safety of D-allulose as a novel food cannot be established, because the applicant did not answer repeated requests for data on its identity, production process, genotoxicity and effects in people. In cosmetics, the CIR Expert Panel concluded in 2021 that psicose is safe as used; at the time it was not reported in any product.
On labels it appears as allulose in foods and supplements and as psicose in cosmetics.
Sources: FDA: The Declaration of Allulose and Calories from Allulose on Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels, Guidance for Industry (October 2020); EFSA Journal (2025), via PMC: Safety of D-allulose as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283; CIR: Safety Assessment of Anhydrogalactose, Anhydroglucitol, Anhydroxylitol, Arabinose, Psicose, Saccharide Hydrolysate, and Saccharide Isomerate as Used in Cosmetics (final report, 2021); British Journal of Nutrition (2021): Allulose in human diet: the knowns and the unknowns
