Fructooligosaccharide

Used as artificial or alternative sweetener, extracted from fruits and vegetables, fructooligosaccharide (FOS) use emerged in the 1980s in response to consumer demand for a healthier and calorie reduced foods.

The term oligosaccharide refers to short chain of sugar molecules (in the case of FOS, fructose molecules). Oligo means few, and saccharide means sugar.

It is considered to be a prebiotic.