Chocolate shops swathe their wares in crimson for Valentine's Day, encouraging you to give something sweet to someone you're sweet on. But what if your sweetie can't eat sugar? There is an alternative: sugar-free chocolates.

Yech, you say. You vaguely remember tasting them once, long ago. They may have looked like ducks and acted like ducks, but they had a pretty nasty quack.

Things change. The chocolate industry is using a new corn-derived sweetener called maltitol in place of mannitol and sorbitol. But does that make the sugar-free confections taste any better? To find out, the Georgia Straight invited Vancouver chocolatiers to send in samples of their sugar-free lines for a blind taste test. Six staffers tried products from three makers: Purdy's Chocolates, Cinnamon's Chocolates, and Daniel Le Chocolat Belge.

The verdict? Overall, the sugar-free chocolate did quite well, especially the filled versions. Nobody would choose sugar-free over regular, but they definitely weren't awful. Well, some were pretty bad, but others were pretty good. So good the tasters thought they'd better try another-just to be sure.

Sugar-free products: Milk- and dark-chocolate bars ($2.25); milk-chocolate Cupid ($2.75); peanut-butter bar ($1.75); assorted boxed chocolates ($11.95); boxed hedgehogs ($10.50)

The rundown: Purdy's overhauled its line of sugar-free chocolate last year and now uses maltitol

The reaction: Mixed. Everyone disliked the plain milk and dark chocolate. "The milk chocolate tastes not chalky, but…cheaper," said Tamara Robinson, trying to put her finger on it. "A granola top note," pronounced John Burns. But most agreed the peanut-butter bars were pretty darn yummy. Matt McLeod picked the hedgehogs as the best of everything he tasted, commenting that he could eat them without missing the regular version.

Sugar-free products: Heart-shaped box made of chocolate filled with truffles ($7.95 and $21.95); assorted boxed chocolates ($12.50 and $45.95); bridge mix ($7.95); heart lollies and wands ($3 and $8.95); tulle- covered single truffle ($2)

The rundown: Cinnamon's started making the line three years ago. Very cute Valentine's packaging, with red foil, tulle, and heart-imprinted cellophane bags. The heart-shaped princess wand is absolutely darling.

The reaction: Better. Assessment of the plain chocolate ranged from passable to very good. "It doesn't have a lot of flavour," Pieta Woolley said. But she deemed the truffle "fantastic". Nobody liked the bridge mix, but most admitted they weren't crazy about the regular candy to begin with.

Sugar-free products: Dark- and milk-chocolate bars ($3.25); foil hearts and lollipops ($4.95 and $2.25); cooking/fondue slabs ($13.95 and $18.90); boxed chocolates ($16); hazelnut-praline turtles ($7.95); hexagonal box made of chocolate filled with assorted chocolates ($19.95)

The rundown: Daniel makes two kinds of dark chocolate: 70- and 56-percent cocoa. All natural and organic ingredients. Attractive Valentine's packaging.

The reaction: Good. Daniel's plain chocolate was deemed the best, hands down. "It has the right balance of creaminess and chocolatiness," Robinson said. "Pretty awesome. I could eat a lot of that one," Woolley declared. Burns passed it as just "fine". Everybody liked the hazelnut turtle truffles.

Although the sugar-free products aren't perfect, they've come a long way. McLeod, the only taster with diabetes, was impressed with the wide range. "Before, it was basic, pretty plain," he said. "They didn't have the ones with fillings. It tasted like cooking chocolate, with an aspartame aftertaste." He also expressed surprise at the quality. "Some of these are quite a bit better than what I've had before."

But don't pig out yet. "Just because it's sugar-free doesn't mean people can eat it in unlimited amounts," says Melissa Kane, who does Pacific-area marketing and communications for the Canadian Diabetes Association. "With sugar-free chocolate, people with diabetes should follow the same plan as with regular chocolate: use it in moderation."

Registered dietician Rainbow McBryan, who coordinates the association's Cooking for Your Life! program, tells the Straight that sugar alcohol, including maltitol, doesn't make your blood sugar rise as much as sugar. However, sugar-free chocolate is still high in calories and fat. "It's not recommended for people who are trying for weight reduction," McBryan cautions. She also emphasizes that people with diabetes can work small doses of regular, sugar-added chocolate into their diets. (For information on the cooking program, see diabetes.ca/).

Consuming too much maltitol also has unpleasant side effects, such as diarrhea and nausea. "If you have more than 10 grams of sugar alcohol, you may produce gastrointestinal symptoms," McBryan says, adding that some people can tolerate more than others. (One Purdy's sugar-free dark-chocolate bar contains 13 grams of sugar alcohol; Purdy's milk-chocolate bar has 30 grams.)

Even though sugar-free chocolates have improved greatly, they're just like regular chocolate in one respect: too much of a good thing is never good for you.