Description

Sorbitol, also known as glucitol, is a sugar alcohol that the body metabolises slowly. It is obtained by reduction of glucose changing the aldehyde group to an additional hydroxyl group hence the name sugar alcohol. 

Sweetener 
Sorbitol is used in "sugar-free" mints and various cough syrups and is usually listed under the inactive ingredients. 

Sorbitol is a sugar substitute often used in diet foods (including diet drinks and ice cream) and sugar-free chewing gum. It also occurs naturally in many stone fruits and berries from trees of the genus Sorbus[1]. Sorbitol is also referred to as a nutritive sweetener because it provides dietary energy: 2.6 kilocalories (*1 kilojoules) per gram versus the average 4 kilocalories (*7 kilojoules).