Stevia Low Calorie Sugar Substitute
Natural Herb 300 Times Sweeter Than Sugar With No Calories
Stevia has been used safely for 100's of years. As well as sweetening food, Stevia has the added benefit of naturally reducing cholesterol. The answer lies "In The Money". Stevia has now been approved as a sweetener, but it took awhile!
"According to the Herb Research Foundation, numerous scientists, and tens of millions of consumers throughout the world, especially in Japan, the herb is safe and intensely sweet, which could make it a popular non-caloric sweetener."
Rob McCaleb, president, Herb Research Foundation, Boulder, Colo., USA
"As a scientist with over 15 years researching the safety of Stevia and of many other plants used as food or food ingredients, I can assure that our conclusions in these various studies indicate that stevia is safe for human consumption as per intended usage, that is, as a sweetener." Mauro Alvarez, Ph.D., Brazil
"The petition cites over 120 articles about Stevia written before 1958, and over 900 articles published to date. In this well-chronicled history of Stevia, no author has ever reported any adverse human health consequences associated with consumption of stevia leaf." Supplement to GRAS affirmation petition no. 4G0406, submitted by the Thomas J. Lipton Company February 3, 1995
"Stevia leaf is a natural product that has been used for at least 400 years as a food product, principally as a sweetener or other flavoring agent. None of this common usage in foods has indicated any evidence of a safety problem. There are no reports of any government agency in any of the above countries indicating any public health concern whatsoever in connection with the use of stevia in foods." Gras affirmation petition submitted on behalf of the American Herbal Products Association, April 23, 1992,
"...various extract forms of Stevia have been extensively studied and tested. These tests include acute, sub-acute, carcinogenic evaluation and mutagenicity studies. These scientific data, while not directly relevant or required for exemption under the common use in food proviso, nevertheless demonstrate cumulatively that there is no safety problem associated with the use of an extract of Stevia. It appears to be extraordinarily safe." Introduction to GRAS affirmation petition submitted by the American Herbal Products Association, April 23, 1992
The Japanese either banned or strictly regulated artificial sweeteners during the 1960s, consistent with a popular movement away from allowing chemicals in the food supply. They soon discovered the ideal replacement for both sugar and its synthetic substitutes: refined Stevia extracts.
Originally introduced to Japan in 1970 by a consortium of food-product manufacturers, stevioside and other Stevia products quickly caught on. By 1988, they reportedly represented approximately 41% of the market share of potently sweet substances consumed in Japan.
In addition to widespread use as a tabletop sweetener, like the packets of saccharin ("Sweet-n-Low®") and aspartame ("Equal®") commonly found in the United States, Stevia was also used by the Japanese to sweeten a variety of food products, including ice cream, bread, candies, pickles, seafood, vegetables, and soft drinks.
In addition to demonstrating Stevia's nearly instant popularity in locales far removed from its native habitat, Japan's experience proved several other significant facts about this phenomenal plant: its adaptability and its safety. Adaptability was proven through the discovery that the plant could be grown throughout most of this temperate island nation, albeit under special hothouse conditions.
Studies were even initiated to evaluate the substitution of Stevia for rice under cultivation in some areas. Stevia's safety was proven through extensive scientific testing.
The spread of the Stevia phenomenon was not limited to Japan. Today it is also grown and used in approximately 10 other countries outside South America, including China, Germany, Malaysia, Israel and South Korea.
Stevia might by now be firmly entrenched in the United States as well, had it not been for a concerted effort to block its very entry. Stevia is just now beginning to be recognized for the safe, no-calorie sweetener that it is.
