Human tolerance to a single, high dose of D-tagatose

The addition of 29 g D-tagatose added as a sweetener to a continental breakfast was tested for the appearance of gastrointestinal side effects in a double-blind randomized cross-over study with 29 g sucrose as a control treatment. The subjects reported the side effects during 72 h following the test meal on a questionnaire grading the symptoms on a five-level scale ranging from "none" to "very strong." Although "rumbling in the stomach," "distention," "nausea," "rumbling in the gut," "flatulence, " and "diarrhea" scored significantly higher with D-tagatose, the sugar otherwise was well tolerated in most of the subjects. Two cases of vomiting after D-tagatose were recorded but in one of the cases its relation to the D-tagatose intake was questionable. Only the "distention" score remained higher with D-tagatose for more than 24 h. Nausea, vomiting, and perceived distension may be due to an osmotic effect in the small intestine of unabsorbed D-tagatose. The increased flatus is caused by D-tagatose being fermented in the large intestine. Diarrhea may be explained by osmotic effects in the colon from nondegraded D-tagatose or nonabsorbed short-chain fatty acids produced by the increased fermentation.