An Alternative Sweetener?
You may have heard about a natural herb called stevia, which yields a sweet taste although it is not sugar. Stevia is a product made from a shrub from South America, Stevia rebaudiana. Other names for the leaves of this plant are Sweet Herb and Sweetleaf. Although all plant parts are intensely sweet, usually it is the leaves from which a water extract is taken to produce the alternative sweetener. Stevia is classified as a nutritional supplement and not a “food” or food ingredient by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The law is written like this – in order for a food ingredient to be approved for use in the U.S., the producer must provide FDA with documentation that the ingredients are safe. This includes experiments that have proven the ingredients do not cause cancer in laboratory animals, do not alter any aspect of reproduction and do not damage any organ system, such as the kidney or heart. When the petition to have Stevia approved as a food ingredient was presented for review
