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Stevia FAQ: What's Next for the Sugar Substitute?
What is stevia?
Stevia rebaudiana is a shrub native to South America. Its leaves have been used there for centuries to sweeten beverages. Stevia is sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement -- a category that gets little regulatory scrutiny. Those supplements are often used as a tabletop sweetener, although the FDA does not allow companies to promote them for that use. Stevia-sweetened Zevia, a diet drink, also bills itself as a dietary supplement.
The FDA has banned the use of stevia as a food additive or ingredient, including as a sweetener, because of safety concerns. Stevia is also prohibited in foods in the European Union and Canada. It is allowed in Japan, where it has been in use for more than three decades.
What are Truvia and PureVia?
These are the brand names for sweeteners that use a component of the stevia leaf called rebaudioside A. The FDA is reviewing notices from Cargill Inc. and Whole Earth Sweetener Company LLC, a division of Merisant Company, that would place these sweeteners in a category called "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS. If the FDA does not question the science behind the companies' notices, then Truvia and PureVia can be used as a sweetener in foods.
The FDA generally takes up to 180 days to review a notice. That means the review could wrap up in early November or be extended if the FDA needs more time. Companies can sell products during the review period.
How do Truvia and PureVia differ from stevia?
The FDA has not approved whole-leaf stevia or stevia extracts as food ingredients in the past because of concerns about their safety, including effects on blood sugar and reproductive, cardiovascular, and renal systems.
Because Truvia and PureVia only use a component of the stevia leaf, the FDA considers them to be different. That means it could allow companies to use rebaudioside-A-based sweeteners such as PureVia and Truvia in foods, but not permit that use for other stevia-based sweeteners.
Are there other stevia extracts on the market?
Wisdom Natural Foods is selling SweetLeaf Sweetener online and introducing it to stores. The company believes the sweetener fits the FDA guidelines for foods generally recognized as safe, according to its web site. SweetLeaf contains 98% steviol glycosides, according to the web site.
Health food stores and herbal stores have sold forms of stevia since the 1970s. And fresh stevia leaves can be found at many farmers markets.
Are they artificial sweeteners?
Stevia-based sweeteners are considered natural because they are made with plant extracts.
Are these new sweeteners safe?
The companies seeking to sell the products say they are safe. Studies published in May in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology conclude that a purified extract of rebaudioside A does not cause reproductive or developmental problems in rats. The journal also published other studies funded by Cargill and the Coca-Cola Company that showed Truvia did not affect blood sugar in people with diabetes or impact blood pressure in healthy people. Those studies addressed regulatory agencies' wishes for additional research to clear up lingering concerns from previous studies.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group, is asking for more testing before rebaudioside A is considered a generally recognized as safe ingredient. The group is concerned about previous stevia studies that pointed to cell mutation, says Michael Jacobson, the group's executive director. It also wants tests conducted on one other animal species, such as mice.
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