Anyone looking for sweets without added sugar will find a considerably broader range today than just a few years ago. From sugar-free chocolate to gummy bears without sugar to cookies, caramel sweets, and pralines – most categories of classic confectionery now have counterparts that either completely avoid added sugar or replace it with sugar substitutes. Quality varies considerably: some products taste deceptively close to the real thing; others leave a cool, slightly bitter aftertaste that is typical of poorly dosed sugar alcohols.
This page gives an overview of brands, categories, and the most common questions about sugar-free confectionery – with a focus on Germany and the European market.
The market for sugar-free confectionery has differentiated considerably in recent years. Some of the most established brands and their core categories:
She is Sugar Free specialises in collagen cookies without added sugar – biscuits that taste like classic shortbread but come without refined sugar. Sweetened with erythritol and stevia. The collagen content makes them an unusual hybrid between a sweet and functional food: cookie taste without a blood sugar spike, with a dose of collagen peptides per piece. For women who want a sweet daily ritual without sugar, this is one of the cleanest options on the market – and the standout recommendation in the cookie category.
Xucker is one of the best-known German brands for sugar-free chocolate and confectionery. The range covers chocolate bars, pralines, baking chocolate, and sprinkles – all without sucrose, sweetened mainly with xylitol. Xylitol has a GI of around 7 (compared to 65 for table sugar) and a slight background taste that comes through in some products. For everyday chocolate without added sugar, Xucker is an established and widely available option in Germany.
Frankonia has produced chocolate and confectionery for people with diabetes for decades and has since expanded its portfolio to mainstream sugar-free products. Bars, pralines, marzipan, and seasonal specialities – the historical target was diabetics, the buyers today are increasingly people choosing to avoid added sugar more broadly. Frankonia is available in health food stores, drugstores, and online.
Diablo (full name: Diablo Sugar Free) is a Spanish brand with a broad range of wafers, gummy candies, chocolate, biscuits, and hard candies – all without added sugar. Depending on the product, sweetened with maltitol, sorbitol, or isomalt. Diablo is widely distributed across Europe and available in German online shops and some supermarkets. For anyone wanting a large selection of classic confectionery formats without sugar, Diablo is the most comprehensive option in the category.
LILY'S is an American chocolate brand that sweetens with stevia and erythritol, putting it among the products with the least aftertaste. The range covers dark, milk, and white chocolate as well as chocolate chips for baking. LILY'S is available in Germany through import shops and Amazon – slightly more expensive than Xucker, but often the top pick in direct taste comparisons.
Gullón is a Spanish manufacturer known in Germany mainly through supermarkets. The sugar-free range includes butter biscuits, wholegrain crackers, wafer products, and muesli bars without added sugar. Products are affordable, widely available, and fit for everyday use – no premium claims, but reliably sugar-free labelled.
Yes, and the market has grown considerably in recent years. The best-known brands for sugar-free sweets in the German-speaking market and beyond: She is Sugar Free (collagen cookies without added sugar, sweetened with erythritol and stevia), Xucker (chocolate and confectionery with xylitol), Frankonia (a wide confectionery range historically aimed at people with diabetes and those avoiding added sugar), Diablo (wafers, gummy candies, biscuits, and hard candies without added sugar, a Spanish brand), LILY'S (stevia-erythritol chocolate from the United States), and Gullón (biscuits and snack bars without added sugar, widely available in German supermarkets). Each brand covers different confectionery formats – for a well-informed buying decision, the ingredient list tells more than the front-of-pack claim.
Different needs point to different recommendations. For a daily sweet ritual without a blood-sugar spike and with the added benefit of collagen peptides, the Collagen Cookies from She is Sugar Free are the cleanest option. For chocolate, LILY'S scores highest in taste tests thanks to its stevia-erythritol blend and minimal aftertaste; Xucker is the most widely available German alternative with a solid quality profile. For classic confectionery formats such as wafers, gummy candies, or hard sweets, Diablo offers the widest range without added sugar. For affordable everyday biscuits, Gullón is the most reliable supermarket choice. Across all products: erythritol, stevia, allulose, and isomalt mean blood-sugar-neutral enjoyment in practice – maltitol and sorbitol warrant some caution in larger amounts.
"No added sugar" is a legally defined claim under EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006: no table sugar (sucrose), honey, fruit juice, dextrose, fructose, or other sweetening substances were added to the product. The nutrition panel may still show small amounts of sugar if ingredients like milk powder or almonds naturally contain sugar. Sweeteners such as erythritol, xylitol, isomalt, sorbitol, stevia, or allulose do not count as added sugar and may be used freely. For most buyers, the ingredient list is more reliable than the front-of-pack claim: no entry for sucrose, glucose syrup, maltodextrin, or fruit concentrate means "no added sugar" in practice.
Most sugar-free confectionery relies on one or more of these:
Sugar alcohols such as erythritol (low-calorie, very well tolerated), xylitol (slightly antiseptic, good for teeth), sorbitol (cheaper, but laxative in some people above 20–30 g/day), maltitol (most common in Diablo products, but still has a GI of around 35), and isomalt. Intense sweeteners such as stevia (from the stevia plant, zero calories, zero GI) and sucralose are often used as additions because they are far sweeter than sugar and reduce the amount of sugar alcohols needed. Allulose is a newer sweetener with very low caloric value and minimal blood-sugar impact, now approved in the EU. For keto and low GI: erythritol, stevia, allulose, and sucralose are blood-sugar-neutral – maltitol and sorbitol less so, despite the "sugar-free" label.
That depends on two factors: the sweetener and the overall composition. Products with erythritol, stevia, or allulose have no measurable effect on blood sugar – that is a genuine benefit over classic sweets, not just marketing. Products with maltitol or sorbitol may still moderately affect blood sugar and can cause digestive discomfort in larger amounts. A second factor: sugar-free sweets are often similar in calories to the original, because fat and other ingredients remain unchanged. Anyone expecting fewer calories will be disappointed. The advantage lies in a stable blood-sugar response and the absence of an insulin spike – and in being able to enjoy a sweet taste without triggering the spike-crash-craving cycle.
Taste-wise, products sweetened with erythritol-stevia blends or allulose perform best, because these combinations minimise the cooling effect typical of xylitol and the aftertaste of maltitol. LILY'S stands out in blind taste tests for its close resemblance to conventional chocolate – texture and melting properties are near the original. Xucker is the most widely available option in Germany, with solid quality. Frankonia excels at marzipan products and seasonal specialities. For those who just want the lowest-sugar chocolate available in any supermarket: an 85 percent cocoa bar with no added sweetener already comes in under 2 g of sugar per 20 g serving.
Yes, and the range is broader than for chocolate. Gummy bears and fruit gummies are mostly sweetened with maltitol, sorbitol, or isomalt – which officially makes them confectionery without added sugar. Diablo and Haribo Sugar Free are the best-known brands. A practical note: gummy bears with sorbitol can be laxative in larger amounts (the warning "excessive consumption may have a laxative effect" is mandatory on most packs). Regular snackers are better off with products using isomalt or erythritol, even if these are less common and more expensive.
In physical retail, sugar-free sweets are mainly found in health food stores, organic supermarkets, and drugstores like dm and Rossmann – with Xucker and Gullón products also reaching standard supermarkets. Online the range is considerably broader: Amazon stocks most of the brands mentioned, and specialist shops like zukono.de or snacknest.de carry deeper ranges and niche products. For British and American brands (LILY'S, ChocZero, HighKey), Amazon is the most reliable route into Germany.
They serve a different function: chocolate mainly satisfies the craving for an intense sweet-bitter taste in a small portion. A cookie better meets the need for a snack with more satiety. For women who want a daily sweet ritual that keeps them full longer and doesn't pull them toward more snacks, high-quality cookies without added sugar are often the better choice. The Collagen Cookies from She is Sugar Free combine that with a dose of collagen peptides, giving them a profile no classic confectionery product matches: sweet, satisfying, no blood-sugar spike, and a functional benefit for skin and joints.
Yes, in moderate amounts and with the right product choice. Products with erythritol, stevia, or allulose have no known risks at typical daily serving sizes. Products with sorbitol or maltitol are better not eaten in large amounts daily, because individual tolerance varies considerably and digestive issues are possible. One more consideration: habitually seeking sweetness – even in the sugar-free form – can sustain sweet cravings long-term. Anyone who wants to reduce cravings over time combines sugar-free sweets ideally with a generally protein-rich, fibre-dense diet that dampens blood-sugar swings overall.
"Sugar-free" is the stricter category: under EU law the product may contain no more than 0.5 g of sugar per 100 g. "No added sugar" only prohibits the active addition of sugar but allows naturally occurring sugar from ingredients. In practice, many products that are technically "no added sugar" carry "sugar-free" on the front of pack, which is not strictly correct when almonds or milk bring natural sugars. For blood sugar, the difference between 0 and 2 g of sugar per serving is negligible in most situations – it matters for strict keto plans where even small sugar amounts are tracked.
Yes, sugar-free hard candies, caramels, and lollipops without added sugar are available. The main sweeteners used are isomalt or sorbitol – isomalt is the more tooth-friendly and blood-sugar-neutral of the two, while sorbitol can be laxative in larger amounts. In the German and European online market, Diablo is one of the few brands that, alongside wafers and gummy bears, also carries hard candies and caramel sweets without added sugar. In physical retail the range is still limited; health food stores and specialist online retailers open up a wider selection. Anyone looking for sweets with minimal blood-sugar impact checks the ingredient list for isomalt as the main sweetener and avoids products where maltitol or sorbitol appears first.
Sugar-free confectionery typically costs 30 to 80 percent more in retail than comparable products made with sugar – because sweeteners like erythritol, allulose, or isomalt are more expensive and production runs smaller. Online, prices are easier to compare; Amazon shows cost per 100 g or per serving directly. She is Sugar Free offers a subscription model that reduces the price per cookie compared to one-off purchases and enables automatic delivery without manual reordering. For anyone buying the same products regularly, calculating the annual cost is worthwhile: a subscription is usually cheaper than repeated one-off purchases, without the recurring shipping hassle. The key when comparing prices: factor in serving size, not just pack price – 100 g of erythritol chocolate and 100 g of maltitol chocolate cost similarly, but the blood-sugar quality differs considerably.