stevia

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is, by all accounts, the sweetest-tasting herb on the planet. It’s been known to food researchers and medical scientists since the early 1900s, when it was “discovered” in Paraguay and Brazil. Here, natives had been using Stevia to sweeten their traditional teas and in traditional medicines for many years.
Research on the herb began in earnest in the 1930s. Today we know it to be 300 times sweeter than sugar; we know it has little effect on blood sugar; and we have evidence that it may possess other healthy properties.
Stevia is approved and widely used as a sweetener in many South American and Asian countries, but it has effectively been banned in the West thanks to the lobbying strength of both the sugar and the artificial sweetener industries.
The “Stevia ban” is not unique to the U.S.—the herb is banned as a sweetener in the entire European Union as well. Stevia is, however, available as a dietary supplement both here and abroad—restricted only to protect the interests of the powerful international sugar producers and the “fine chemical” companies that produce proprietary sugar substitutes.
But the tides are turning. The powerful interests that control the sugar and sugar-substitute markets have been highly effective in protecting their products from the competition of Stevia. Until now. By year’s end you could very well see Stevia on your grocery shelves and restaurant tables—at least in the U.S.
Why the sudden change? Because Cargill—the giant multinational commodities broker and food ingredient manufacturer—now has a proprietary Stevia-based ingredient, Truvia^™, which they can patent-protect to ensure strong earnings. Cargill is a member of the same industry organizations that fought to ban the herb. It seems, however, that they have changed their tune now that they’ve developed a suitable competitor to take on branded commercial sugar substitutes like NutraSweet^® or Splenda^®.
This is not bad news, but it does demonstrate the power of big business. Cargill is introducing Truvia as a tabletop sweetener just like its competitors, based on “self-determined GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe)” documentation by scientific experts. And though its actions may not win friends within the agribusiness community, it appears the potential profits are worth the risk of “breaking ranks” from the rest of the industry.
Following Cargill in the head-on challenge to have Stevia-based sweeteners accepted as food additives is Wisdom National Brands, the company responsible for introducing the Stevia herb to the American marketplace way back in 1982. Bolstered in part, perhaps, by the World Health Organization’s positive review of Stevia safety published in 2006 (as well as knowledge of Cargill’s activities), the company began compiling evidence for GRAS determination and now feels ready to push its Stevia-based sweetener into the food aisle as well.
The story of Stevia thus far has been a tale of big business and politics, and how the two often converge to the detriment of public health. For years the special interests succeeded in keeping this healthful, zero-calorie sweetener out of the general marketplace. But the story is still being written, and the final chapters seem to be developing toward a happy ending.
It is disheartening—the fact that powerful corporations were behind the Stevia ban and that the same powerful interests may be responsible for its reversal—but at least we in the U.S. may finally be able to enjoy Stevia as Nature intended. I can only hope that the efforts of Cargill and Wisdom Natural extend across the pond to our European neighbors so that everyone in the West can enjoy the safe, sweet succor that Stevia can bring..
This wonderful article and more on this and other informative health clips by Lee Swanson of Swanson Vitamins.