Here's a nature study on maltitol metabolism: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v57/n1/full/1601516a.html Threshold for "getting the shitz" with maltitol vs sugar was around 80%, so...given our assumptions above (that the maltitol-sugar substitution rate is probably closer to 1.25 than it is to 1), the threshold is exceeded with 4 5oz bags of 'regular sugar' bears, and 3 maltitol-sugared 5oz bags.

Unfortunately, these are just the abstracts.

This shows a link between a sugar substitute and insulin release: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2887500

This shows a link between the sugar alcohol (sugar substitute) in the Haribo bears and insulin release: http://pen.sagepub.com/content/11/3/250.short

None of these studies used the absolutely retarded amount that the guy in the video ate. With Maltitol (75-90% of the sweetness of glucose) and 40% of the insulin response of table sugar, with the aid of a few assumptions...let's say the substitution rate of maltitol for sugar was 1.25 (to sustain equal sweetness), and the insulin response holds at 40%, we can expect homeboy in the video above to experience an insulin response equivalent to eating 2.5lbs of "real sugar" gummi bears. Given that regular gummi bears have 30g of sugar/5oz bag, we can call this 40oz or 1200g of "effective carbs" for the purposes of guessing at insulin release.

The next problem is that maltitol is metabolized into glucose, but not nearly as much as actual glucose. Note from the studies linked by Nheea, the effect on GLP-1 secretion is pronounced in the presence of actual glucose, like say, the glucose in the bottle of sports drink homeboy was using to wash down the gummi bears.

Did he cross the threshold into hypoglycemia that warranted medical intervention? Probably not, but I'd still put money on that being the reason for the symptoms he expressed. His first 'hit' of symptoms was at 15 minutes (though he hadn't started the clock when he took his first bite, so it may have been closer to 20), and his second was at around 39

Gold for the person who eats a 5lb bag of that crap, washing it down with gatorade, while taking blood sugar readings, you know, for science.