Short answer
Yes. Sugar alcohols such as erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol and maltitol are sweeteners, not drinking alcohol. In chemistry the word alcohol names a family of molecules; these cannot intoxicate in any amount, so they are halal in all four schools.
Halal (mubah). The prohibition is tied to intoxication: a substance that cannot intoxicate in any quantity is not khamr and is not impure, whatever its chemical name.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
To a chemist, an alcohol is any molecule with a particular oxygen and hydrogen group attached. Ethanol, the alcohol in wine and beer, is only one member of that family. Sugar alcohols (polyols) are another: they occur naturally in fruit and are made commercially from corn, birch or other plants. They taste sweet, have fewer calories than sugar, and are common in keto, diabetic and sugar-free products.
Islam forbids khamr because it intoxicates. Every Muslim scholar agrees that the ruling follows the effect, not the label. Sugar alcohols do not affect the mind at all, whatever the amount, so they have nothing to do with the prohibition. The four schools agree on this.
You will see them on labels as:
- erythritol (E968), xylitol (E967), sorbitol (E420), mannitol (E421), maltitol (E965), isomalt (E953) and lactitol (E966)
- the same reasoning covers other non-intoxicating alcohols on ingredient lists, such as cetyl, stearyl and cetearyl alcohol in creams, and benzyl alcohol used as a preservative
Two cautions. A sugar-free sweet can still contain gelatin, carmine or other ingredients that need checking, so read the whole label or use the halal food checker. And large amounts of sugar alcohols upset many people's stomachs; eating what clearly harms you is not the Islamic way. For ethanol in flavourings, see vanilla extract, and for drinks with traces of alcohol, see kombucha.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
The prohibition is of intoxicants, which sugar alcohols are not.
Sahih Muslim 2003
Sahih... كل مسكر خمر وكل مسكر حرام ...
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haram."
Ties the ruling to intoxication, so a sweetener that cannot intoxicate falls outside it.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Ashriba. The forbidden drinks and the reason for the prohibition, which is intoxication.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Ashriba. Substances are judged by whether they intoxicate.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.