According to a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers at Drexel university have discovered that erythritol both attracts and kills fruit flies. The naturally occurring sugar alcohol is found in some fruits and in the sweetener Truvia®.

The research began when Simon D. Kaschock-Marenda, then in the 6th grade, decided to test the effects of a variety of sweeteners on fly health for his school science fair. He and his father Daniel Marenda, PhD, an assistant professor of biology in Drexel’s College of Arts and Sciences, bought supplies at a local supermarket and Daniel supplied baby flies from his lab.

“After six days of testing these flies in our house, he came back to me and said, ‘Dad, all the flies in the Truvia® vials are dead… To which I responded, ‘OK…we must have screwed up somehow. Let’s repeat the experiment,” said Marenda in a statement.

They repeated the experiment, under more controlled conditions, in the lab but the results were the same. Merenda then took his results to his colleague Sean O’Donnell, PhD, a professor of biology and biodiversity, Earth and environmental science in Drexel’s College of Arts and Sciences.

After further testing, the researchers found that flies were drawn to erythritol and even seemed to prefer it to other sweeteners. Those raised on food containing Truvia® lived for only 5.8 days on average. Flies in the control group, by comparison, lived for between 38.6 to 50 days. Additionally the flies raised on the sweetener also showed motor impairment prior to their deaths.

The effect of the compound also appears to be dependent on the dosage. Erythritol occurs naturally in some insect species who use it as a type of internal antifreeze in cold weather. It is possible, however, that even those insects could suffer negative effects at higher levels.

Unlike many pesticides, erythritol appears to be completely safe for humans. It has been tested, even at high doses, on people and has demonstrated no negative effects. The sweetener was approved as a food additive by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001.

Additional testing will be required before the full potential of the sweetener as a pesticide is known. The researchers plan to conduct experiments on other insects such as termites, cockroaches, bed bugs and ants. It is unlikely, however, that it will ever be used on a large scale.

“We are not going to see the planet sprayed with erythritol and the chances for widespread crop application are slim. But on a small scale, in places where insects will come to a bait, consume it and die, this could be huge,” said O’Donnell.