What is allulose?

Allulose is a monosaccharide, or simple sugar, used as a low-calorie sweetener.

It occurs naturally in small amounts in some foods and is also produced commercially for use in packaged foods and beverages.

What makes allulose legally unusual is that several different statements can all be true at once:

• allulose is chemically a sugar;
• FDA says it is metabolized differently from traditional sugars;
• FDA currently permits manufacturers to exclude it from the amounts declared as Total Sugars and Added Sugars under an enforcement-discretion policy;
• allulose must still be included in Total Carbohydrate;
• federal regulations separately control claims such as "Zero Sugar" and "Sugar Free";
• the Seventh Circuit held in Franco v. Chobani that allulose falls within the federal regulation's definition of sugar.

That combination is the foundation of the current labeling litigation.

Allulose in plain English

Allulose is sometimes called a rare sugar because it occurs naturally in relatively small quantities.

It is also known as D-allulose and historically as D-psicose.

Chemically, it is a monosaccharide.

That puts allulose in the same broad structural category as other simple sugars, even though its metabolism and caloric contribution differ from traditional sugars.

The word "sugar" therefore has to be used carefully. It can refer to:

• a chemical class;
• table sugar, or sucrose;
• the Total Sugars line on a Nutrition Facts panel;
• a nutrient-content claim such as "Zero Sugar";
• or ordinary consumer understanding.

Those concepts overlap, but they are not identical.

Is allulose the same as table sugar?

No.

Table sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide.

Allulose is a monosaccharide.

They are different compounds with different metabolic characteristics.

Calling allulose a sugar does not mean it behaves identically to sucrose in the body.

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How many calories does allulose have?

FDA's current guidance allows manufacturers to use 0.4 calories per gram for allulose when calculating the calorie declaration on Nutrition and Supplement Facts labels.

Traditional sugars are commonly calculated at roughly 4 calories per gram.

FDA's different treatment reflects scientific evidence concerning how allulose is absorbed and metabolized.

Does allulose count as Total Sugars?

This is where the regulatory tension begins.

21 C.F.R. § 101.9(c)(6)(ii) defines Total Sugars as the sum of all free mono- and disaccharides.

Because allulose is a monosaccharide, it fits that structural definition.

FDA's 2020 guidance, however, says the agency intends to exercise enforcement discretion allowing manufacturers to exclude allulose from the amount declared as Total Sugars.

FDA also allows it to be excluded from Added Sugars.

Allulose still must be included in Total Carbohydrate.

Why would FDA treat a sugar differently?

FDA has explained that some sugars are metabolized differently from traditional sugars.

The agency considered factors such as:

• caloric contribution;
• glycemic response;
• insulin response;
• dental-caries effects;
• metabolism.

That led FDA to adopt a different enforcement approach for allulose in Nutrition Facts labeling.

The key legal detail is that the agency did this through guidance and enforcement discretion rather than by rewriting the underlying regulation.

Is allulose a sugar alcohol?

No.

Allulose is a monosaccharide.

Sugar alcohols include ingredients such as erythritol, sorbitol, xylitol and maltitol.

Allulose also is not the same category as a high-intensity sweetener such as aspartame.

Why is allulose used in reduced-sugar foods?

Allulose can add sweetness while contributing fewer calories than traditional sugars.

It can also provide functional properties useful in foods where replacing sugar with a very high-intensity sweetener alone may not produce the same texture or bulk.

The ingredient appears in litigation involving products such as:

• yogurt;
• cereal;
• protein and snack bars;
• hydration mixes;
• energy beverages;
• candy;
• gummies;
• bread and baked goods;
• ice cream;
• sauces;
• syrups and sweeteners.

That list describes the litigation dataset, not every type of food in which allulose can be used.

Why is allulose involved in lawsuits?

The lawsuits generally challenge the relationship between the ingredient and sugar-related labeling.

The most important case so far is Franco v. Chobani.

The Seventh Circuit held in July 2026 that allulose falls within the federal regulation's definition of sugar and reversed the dismissal of a consumer class action over Chobani Zero Sugar yogurt.

That decision did not rule that allulose is unsafe.

It did not decide that every allulose-containing product with a sugar claim is unlawful.

It did, however, give plaintiffs a significant appellate precedent on the regulatory definition.

We track 58 verified or cross-checked cases across 27 brands.

Can a product show 0g sugar and still contain allulose?

Yes, depending on what part of the label you are looking at.

FDA's current enforcement-discretion policy permits allulose to be excluded from the Total Sugars and Added Sugars declarations on the Nutrition Facts panel.

That does not automatically answer whether a separate front-of-package claim such as "Zero Sugar" complies with the nutrient-content-claim rules.

That distinction is the center of many of the current lawsuits.

Is allulose "FDA approved"?

That phrase can be misleading.

FDA has evaluated GRAS notices involving D-allulose and has issued "no questions" responses to GRAS conclusions under specified conditions of use.

That is not the same regulatory mechanism as formal approval of a food additive.

For this site, the more important federal materials are the allulose guidance and the food-labeling regulations.

What allulose is not

Allulose is not:

• the same molecule as sucrose;
• a sugar alcohol;
• automatically illegal in food;
• automatically proof that a "zero sugar" label is unlawful;
• the subject of a court ruling declaring it unsafe.

The current litigation is primarily about labeling and consumer representations.

Frequently asked questions

Is allulose natural?

Allulose occurs naturally in small amounts in some foods. Commercial allulose can also be manufactured.

Is allulose fructose?

No. It is structurally related to fructose but is not identical to it.

Why can allulose be left out of Total Sugars?

Because FDA currently exercises enforcement discretion allowing that treatment on the Nutrition Facts panel.

Does allulose have to appear on the label?

Allulose used as an ingredient is subject to ingredient-list requirements and remains part of Total Carbohydrate.

Are the lawsuits medical-injury cases?

The cases tracked by this site are principally consumer-labeling and economic-injury cases, not claims that allulose caused physical injury.

Sources cited in this guide (4)

• FDA allulose guidance
• 21 C.F.R. § 101.9
• Franco v. Chobani, LLC
• The alluloselawsuit.com case tracker, with the sources cited on each case page.