Sugar-Free Rome?
 

I keep hearing about the incredible gelato and pastries in Rome ? but I don?t use sugar. Does anyone know of places in Rome that serve sugar-free desserts? I wouldn?t even have thought to ask but on a recent trip to Las Vegas I found sugar-free gelato at the Venetian and Bellagio hotels.

Also, will artificial sweeteners be readily available -- or should I bring my own Sweet 'n Low? Thanks!

I believe that some of the larger gelato outlets have at least a couple of flavors that are sugar free (Blue Ice, San Crispino and Giolitti). Sugar substitutes, both Nutra Sweet (look for the brand "Dietor") and saccharine are readily available.

It's such a tiny thing and could turn out to be an incredible hassle, bring your packets of sweet & low! Sorry don't know about gelato.

Skip the gelato and have lots of pasta. It's wonderful.((@))

i would recommend anyone to bring his own sweet n low , not that there are no artifical sweeteners here, but the flavor of some of them is very chenical/metallic.

also.. beware of "sugar - free" desserts anywhere.. worldwide...some of the substitutes are equally bad for diabetics.

The sugar substitutes in Europe look different than the US versions. They are either in tablet form (very tiny)or packets (also tiny). Sometimes there will be a dispenser on the table for the tablet type and you hold it over your glass and push something and the tablet comes out the bottom of the dispenser.

topping

I saw a couple of flavors of Gelato marked "diet" around the major tourist sights. My guess is that diet possibly meant made with artificial sweetners. Unfortunately, I don't recall which flavors they were! The smaller geloto stands in the more residential areas did not offer diet flavors. We only found artificial sweetner of any sort in a few restaurants and it didn't taste much like what we were used to (Splenda, Sweet n Low). You might want to just bring your own along :-)

The warning above about sugar free desserts is very valid. At least in the US, companies are only required to call it sugar if it is your normal white sugar. They can use fructose, mallitol, sorbital and other odd kinds of sugar and still call the product sugar free. In fact, if you are diabetic, these are sugars and will act as sugars in your blood stream.

The only sugar substitute I know that will not affect your blood sugar is a product called Stevia which is made from the stevia plant (from Paraguay, I think). It is sold in health food stores under a couple brand names and is pretty expensive but is perfect for diabetics who want a bit of sugar on cereal or in tea or coffee.

If an ingredient name ends in "ol" or "tol," check it with your doctor or pharmacist. ((@))

Sorbitol can cause "digestive distress" for some people. Very unpleasant.

So unless you are diabetic and have no choice but to have sugarfree, I would be very wary of sugar free products overseas; especially if they are not labeled.