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Stevia, is it good or bad? Safe or not? Have you tried it yet?
Posted by Beth Ann Bentley on Jan 09 2009
iLunchbox Blog >> Beth Ann

There are about 240 different types of Stevia plants. Stevia is a herb or bush related to the sunflower. It is native to Brazil and Paraguay, and is now grown quite a lot in China. The specific plant Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, is also known as sweetleaf and is grown obviously, for its sweet leaves. The extract from those leaves is being crystallized and sold as a sugar substitute, again called Stevia, you will also see it as Truvia, PureVia and Stevia In the Raw. It has taken many years for the manufacturers of this product to lessen the bitter or licorice like after taste.

Stevia is not an artificial sweetener created in the lab, it is a plant. It contains no saccharin, aspartame, fructose, sugar, F.O.S., maltodextrin or artificial sweeteners or colorings. It contains no calories and no carbohydrates and yet, can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar. It can be used by anyone to help reduce their caloric and carbohydrate intake and it is safe for use by diabetics. Some studies indicate it might even help with bone calcium. Sounds great, right?

In December of 2008 the FDA approved Stevia as “safe for consumption". Well why not; the native people of Paraguay have been using it for generations to sweeten their “stimulant” beverages and medicinal teas, right? The Japanese have been using it commercially since 1971 in food products and beverages. So it must be safe for us Americans to consume by the bucket load in carbonated beverages, flavored waters, and grab and go snacks, right?

Maybe? It might all be okay, but there have been some skepticism and concern surrounding the testing of Stevia. Coke and Pepsi have invested a lot of money in Stevia plantations and have been petitioning the FDA for approval since the year 2000. The FDA normally requires food additives to be tested for two years on both rats and mice before it will recommend a substance for consumption. Stevia was approved after only being tested on rats, and some hamsters. Why hamsters, I do not know.

Several of the tests indicate that the chemical responsible for Stevia’s extreme sweetness, Rebaudioside A, causes DNA damage and mutations plus some potentially serious reproductive side effects for both men and women. The two toxicology scientists from UCLA recommended more testing; I have to agree.

Officially their comments included that if you are only using Stevia to sweeten your morning tea or coffee, there should be no side effects, but really do you think that will be the way it is ultimately used?

Look at aspartame, it was suppose to be safe for consumption in moderation yet worldwide there are thousands of aspartame toxicity cases each year and aspartame went through more than 100 scientific studies concluding one of the most rigorous testing programs and regulatory reviews in food ingredient history! I wouldn’t let my family consume anything with Aspartame in it, period! The FDA needs to revoke that approval….I’ll rant on that another day…back to Stevia.

Coke and Pepsi will start marketing their stevia sweetened beverages early this year. Expect to see items like Sprite Green, with lemon juice and Truvia, lower-calorie Odwalla juices, and SoBe Life water fruit flavors with PureVia hitting the shelves soon.

I just got two free packets of Truvia in the mail over the weekend. I tried it in my morning coffee…YUCK! Did you get yours yet? What did you think?

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