What is stevia?
Posted on May 31st, 2007 – 5:20 PMBy Jaime Chismar
The Coca-Cola Co. is partnering with Wayzata-based agribusiness Cargill Inc. to develop a new calorie-free sweetener for its products in the United States. The natural sweetener, which is being called rebiana, is actually derived from the stevia plant. Like the mint family, stevia comes in over 100 varieties. Most are native to Central and South America. It’s said to be 10 to 300 times sweeter than actual sugar.
Whoa! Hold on to your Pixie Stix!
Stevia is nothing new in the plant world. It’s is actually used as a sugar substitute around the world. However, in 1991, the FDA said Stevia was not suitable as a food additive. (Some suggest stevia’s stigma was actually a clever conspiracy created by the sugar industry.) It *can* be sold as an herb in the United States and is a favorite herbal sweetner among many naturopaths. You can even grow it in your own back yard.
As a child of the 80’s, I totally remember New Coke and the switch to corn syrup. The hype totally backfired. Americans may love their sugar, but the national palette is rather fickle.
What do you think? Could a low calorie herb help us kick the corn syrup or is this just the beginning of another dietary fad like the low-carb craze?
(Note: I can’t find a photo of stevia on the AP, so click here to see what it looks like.)
11 Responses to "What is stevia?"
I certainly would try it myself. I’ve known about it for years. I have some Stevia seeds in an unopened packet somehere. What I have heard is that it has a licorice flavor so it might not be suitable for all foods.
While there may be an issue with the sugar industry vs. stevia, I think the bigger issue is with the manufacturers of artificial sweeteners. They stand to lose quite a bit of money if people switch over from Nutrasweet and Splenda…. mmm, chlorinated sugar, I’m already salivating! Or maybe that’s the chemical effects?
So what I have read so far deals with the reluctance of FDA to approve of stevia as safe, but having no problems with many of the artificial sweeteners… which are probably much more likely to get you sick, but with the FDA you need a lot of money to approve a food additive or medicine, and you can make more profit from an artificial sweetener like Nutrasweet than you can from a natural herb.
I’ve never heard of a stigma from stevia, only that the FDA isn’t allowing it as a food additive. Most people have never heard of it.
What I have also read today, is that it has some potential health benefits. I would imagine nothing mind-blowing, but every little bit helps: regulating blood pressure, blood sugar, some antibiotic qualities.
I’ll be watching to see what kind of form the tabletop product will come in. I have a feeling that there still will be a lot of control on it, and that will keep the prices up, compared to what it could be, although it should be cheaper than high-fructose corn syrup.
I am ecstatic about this, as artificial sweeteners such as splenda and aspartame are very bad for me — causing migraines and constant headaches. I am happy that Cargill and Coke are looking into Stevia - -a sweetener I use for baking, cooking, in my teas, etc. If you get the right brand it doesn’t have an aftertaste and it is SO sweet - half a teaspoon will sweeten a whole pitcher of kool aid. No calories, and it may even help you absorb your nutrients better.
Way to go Coke and Cargill!
This is great news! I’ve been in the middle of a personal sweetener dilemma this past year. After strictly using Splenda while on Weight Watchers for a while, my (future) mother-in-law convinced me it was bad for my health to consume such a manufactured product. So, instead of using Spelnda in my venti dark roasts, I’ve switched to raw sugar. While delicious, I worry about the calories. If Stevia works out for Coke, maybe it can work it’s way into little packets at Caribou as well. Sweet!
You’re right, artificial sweetners are a scary chemical slurry. I know from experience, migraines (as well as detecting what causes them) are no fun.
The stevia sweetener sounds promising, but I’m always suspicious of BigAg’s “plant research.” GMO corn is a scary addition to local ecosystems and local economies. Mexican farmers are having a heck of a time trying to keep it from cross breeding with their local varieties of maize. Who knows what stevia “alterations” will result from their research?
I suppose, on the upside, more stevia might mean less corn monocropping…
Pardon my cynicism, but to add to some other comments, Stevia likely won’t be approved by the FDA until someone (i.e. Coke & Cargill) finds a way to secure their revenue stream by patenting some variant of the natural plant - if not the plant’s own genetic code. Once the exclusive rights (and profits) are locked up, there’s more incentive to spend money on the FDA process to get the plant approved for food use.
personally, i don’t care for stevia. it is very sweet but it has a flavor to it that i can’t get over. my parents love it. i use splenda quite a bit, and its my understanding that the reason i can’t tell the difference is because of the molecule size. i don’t think it’s dangerous, and i think the articles implying its dangerous are vague in their accusations. this one goes so far as to recommend saccharine instead?
http://www.splendaexposed.com/
http://com.hilbert.edu/students/papers/carolina-2000/2000cancer.html
I know that Stevia is not absorbed by the body. It provides the sweetness of more than 10 times that of sugar. Research has been completed by an Ill. company that has already developed a strain with a patent. Great to hear that Coke and Cargill will move ahead with this plant to develop it as an additive.
I have to wonder if Coca-Cola and Cargill are developing this due to changes in the price of corn syrup (have there been changes?)…which itself may or may not be a result of corn prices jumping due to increasingly competing interests (namely, food vs. ethanol).
Or maybe I’m just rambling…
I was wondering the same thing, Froggie… Ethanol is big business these days. Many fallow acres are being put back into production to grow corn. Dunno, if you caught this tidbit in the Strib opinion pages, but it looks like our ethanol craze is could impact farmers in our local Hmong community.
Funny, I skimmed too fast down the page and I read that Coca-Cola was going to use Sevin as a new, natural sweetener. Sevin, being the same thing one dusts with to kill cutworms. The funny thing was that I wasn’t surprised.
to even consider purchasing and consuming a product from the coca-cola company or (knowingly) cargill for that matter confounds me….. “kick the corn syrup” i bet cargill ain’t gonna do it for you…
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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