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DESCRIPTION:
Stevia sweeteners are no-calorie sweeteners that can be used to lower one’s intake of added sugars while still providing satisfaction from enjoying the taste of something sweet.
While some types of sweeteners in this category are considered low-calorie (e.g., aspartame) and others are no-calorie (e.g., stevia sweeteners, monk fruit sweeteners and sucralose), collectively they are often referred to as sugar substitutes, high-intensity sweeteners, non-nutritive sweeteners or low-calorie sweeteners.
Like other no-calorie sweeteners, stevia sweeteners are intensely sweet.
Stevia sweeteners range from being 200-350 times sweeter than sugar, and as such only small amounts of stevia sweeteners are needed to match the sweetness provided by sugar.
Stevia sweeteners can be used by food and beverage manufacturers as an ingredient in beverages (such as diet sodas, light or low-sugar juices and flavored waters), canned fruits, condiments, dairy products (such as ice cream, flavored milk and yogurt) and other foods (such as baked goods, cereals, chocolate and other confections) and syrups.
Because they are stable at high temperatures, stevia sweeteners can be used in baked goods.
However, a recipe that uses stevia sweeteners in place of sugar may turn out slightly different because, in addition to sweetness, sugar plays several roles related to volume and texture in recipes but varies based on the type of recipe.
Stevia sweeteners are also used in several tabletop sweeteners, such as Truvia®, Pure Via®, Stevia In The Raw®, SPLENDA® Naturals Stevia Sweetener, SweetLeaf® and Enliten®, as well as other retail products sold under store-brand names.
Stevia, also called Stevia rebaudiana, is a plant that is a member of the chrysanthemum family, a subgroup of the Asteraceae family (ragweed family).
There’s a big difference between the stevia you buy at the grocery store and the stevia you may grow at home.
Stevia products found on grocery store shelves, such as Truvia and Stevia in the Raw, don’t contain whole stevia leaf.
They’re made from a highly refined stevia leaf extract called rebaudioside A (Reb-A).
In fact, many stevia products have very little stevia in them at all.
Reb-A is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.
Sweeteners made with Reb-A are considered “novel sweeteners” because they’re blended with different sweeteners, such as erythritol (a sugar alcohol) and dextrose (glucose).
For example, Truvia is a blend of Reb-A and erythritol, and Stevia in The Raw is a blend of Reb-A and dextrose (packets) or maltodextrin (Bakers Bag).
Some stevia brands also contain natural flavors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source doesn’t object to the term “natural flavors” if the related ingredients have no added colors, artificial flavors, or synthetics.
Still, ingredients that fall under the “natural flavor” umbrella may be highly processed. Many argue that this means there’s nothing natural about them.
You can grow stevia plants at home and use the leaves to sweeten foods and beverages.
Reb-A sweeteners are available in liquid, powder, and granulated forms. For purposes of this article, “stevia” refers to Reb-A products.
Stevia Leaf Extract Min. 95% Steviol Glycosides is a natural, calorie free sweetener, and 200-250 times sweeter than sucrose.
The sweet taste of the Stevia leaves is due to their content of Steviol glycosides, with Rebaudioside A as a major fraction.
Stevia Leaf Extract Min. 95% Steviol Glycosides is a white to light yellow powder with little-to-no odor that is soluble in ethanol and water.
Stevia (/ˈstiːviə, ˈstɛviə/)[1][2] is a sweet sugar substitute that is about 50 to 300 times sweeter than sugar.[3]
It is extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a plant native to areas of Paraguay and Brazil.[4][dubious – discuss]
The active compounds in stevia are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside).[5]: 54 Stevia is heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable.[6]
Humans cannot metabolize the glycosides in stevia, and therefore it has zero calories.
Its taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, and at high concentrations some of its extracts may have an aftertaste described as licorice-like or bitter.
Stevia is used in sugar- and calorie-reduced food and beverage products as an alternative for variants with sugar.[7]
The legal status of stevia as a food additive or dietary supplement varies from country to country.
In the United States, certain high-purity stevia glycoside extracts have been generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and may be lawfully marketed and added to food products, but stevia leaf and crude extracts do not have GRAS or Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in food.[8]
The European Union approved Stevia rebaudiana additives in 2011.[9]
In Japan, stevia has been widely used as a sweetener for decades.[10]
Stevia rebaudiana
The plant Stevia rebaudiana has been used for centuries by the Guaraní peoples of South America, who called it ka'a he'ê ("sweet herb").[11]
The leaves have been used traditionally for hundreds of years in both Paraguay and Brazil to sweeten local teas, and as a "sweet treat".[11]
The genus was named for the Spanish botanist and physician Pedro Jaime Esteve (Petrus James Stevus, 1500–1556) a professor of botany at the University of Valencia.[12]
History
In 1899, Swiss botanist Moisés Santiago Bertoni, while conducting research in eastern Paraguay, first described the plant and the sweet taste in detail.[13]
Only limited research was conducted on the topic until, in 1931, two French chemists isolated the glycosides that give stevia its sweet taste.[14]
Early regulation
During the 1990s, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received two petitions requesting that stevia be classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS), but the FDA "disagreed with [the] conclusions [detailed in the petitions]".
Stevia remained banned for all uses until the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, after which the FDA revised its stance and permitted stevia to be used as a dietary supplement, although still not as a food additive.[16]
In 1999, prompted by early studies, the European Commission banned stevia's use in food products within the European Union pending further research.[17]
In 2006 and 2016, research data compiled in the safety evaluations released by the World Health Organization found no adverse effects.[18][5]: 60
In December 2008, the FDA gave a "no objection" approval for GRAS status to Truvia[a] and PureVia,[b] both of which use rebaudioside A derived from the Stevia rebaudiana plant.[19]
However, the FDA said that these products are not stevia, but a highly purified Stevia rebaudiana-extract product.[20] In 2015, the FDA still regarded stevia as "not an approved food additive", and stated that it "has not been affirmed as GRAS in the United States due to inadequate toxicological information".[21]
In June 2016, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued an order of detention for stevia products made in China based on information that the products were made using prison labor.[22]
Certain high-purity stevia glycoside extracts have been generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and may be lawfully marketed and added to food products.[8]
Commercial use
Use of stevia as a sweetener began in Japan,[non-primary source needed] with the aqueous extract of the leaves yielding purified steviosides developed as sweeteners. Japanese firm Morita Kagaku Kogyo claims they were the first, in 1971, to commercialize stevia sweetener production.
In the mid-1980s, stevia was commonly used in U.S. natural foods and health food industries, as a noncaloric natural sweetener for teas and weight-loss blends.[24][25]
The makers of the synthetic sweetener NutraSweet (at the time Monsanto) asked the FDA to require testing of stevia extracts.[25]
In 2007, the Coca-Cola Company announced plans to obtain approval for its Stevia-derived sweetener, Rebiana, for use as a food additive within the United States by 2009, as well as plans to market Rebiana-sweetened products in 12 countries that allow stevia's use as a food additive.[26][27]
In May 2008, Coca-Cola and Cargill announced the availability of Truvia, a consumer-brand Stevia sweetener containing erythritol and Rebiana,[28] which the FDA permitted as a food additive in December 2008.[29]
Coca-Cola announced intentions to release stevia-sweetened beverages in late December 2008.[30] From 2013 onwards, Coca-Cola Life, containing stevia as a sweetener, was launched in various countries around the world.[31]
Shortly afterward, PepsiCo and Pure Circle announced PureVia, their brand of Stevia-based sweetener, but withheld release of beverages sweetened with rebaudioside A until receipt of FDA confirmation.
Since the FDA permitted Truvia and PureVia, both the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo have introduced products that contain their new sweeteners.[32]
Industrial extracts
Rebaudioside A has the least bitterness of all the steviol glycosides in the Stevia rebaudiana plant.
To produce steviol glycosides commercially, Stevia rebaudiana plants are dried and subjected to a hot water extraction process.[5]: 56
This crude extract contains about 50% rebaudioside A.
The various glycosides are separated and purified via crystallization techniques, typically using ethanol or methanol as solvent.[33]
The dried extract contains no less than 95% steviol glycosides.[5]: 56 [34]
Stevia rebaudiana extracts and derivatives are produced industrially and marketed under different trade names.
Rebiana is an abbreviated name for the Stevia extract, rebaudioside A.[35]
Truvia is the brand for an erythritol and rebiana sweetener concoction manufactured by Cargill and developed jointly with the Coca-Cola Company.[36]
PureVia is PepsiCo's brand of rebiana.[32]
EverSweet, discovered and developed by Evolva,[37] and manufactured jointly by Cargill and DSM.[38][39]
Mechanism of action:
Steviol, the basic building block of stevia's sweet glycosides
Glycosides are molecules that contain glucose residues bound to other non-sugar substances called aglycones (molecules with other sugars are polysaccharides). Preliminary experiments deduce that the tongue's taste receptors react to the glycosides and transduce the sweet taste sensation and the lingering bitter aftertaste by direct activation of sweet and bitter receptors.[40]
According to basic research, steviol glycosides and steviol interact with a protein channel called TRPM5, potentiating the signal from the sweet or bitter receptors, amplifying the taste of other sweet, bitter and umami tastants.[41]
The synergetic effect of the glycosides on the sweet receptor and TRPM5 explains the sweetness sensation.
Some steviol glycosides (rebaudioside A) are perceived sweeter than others (stevioside).[42]
Steviol is processed by intestinal microflora and is also taken up into the bloodstream, further metabolised by the liver to steviol glucuronide and several other metabolites, and excreted in the urine.[43][5]: 56–57
A three-dimensional map of the proteins produced by the stevia plant, showing the crystalline structures that produce both the sensation of sweetness and bitter aftertaste in the sweetener, was reported in 2019.
HOW ARE STEVIA SWEETENERS PRODUCED?
Stevia sweeteners are derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) plant, an herbal shrub native to South America.
The stevia plant has been used for food and medicinal purposes for hundreds of years, and its leaves and crude extracts have been sold as a dietary supplement.
Stevia sweeteners are made by extracting steviol glycosides from the leaves of the stevia plant and purifying them to remove some of the bitter attributes found in the crude extract.
Steviol glycosides all have a common basic backbone called steviol.
They include compounds like stevioside and many different forms of rebaudiosides, the most common of which is rebaudioside A (or reb A).1
Some steviol glycosides are also made through processes called bioconversion and fermentation, which allow better tasting and less bitter rebaudiosides, such as reb M, to be produced on a larger scale.
WHAT HAPPENS TO STEVIA SWEETENERS AFTER CONSUMPTION?
Steviol glycosides are not absorbed in the upper gastrointestinal tract and therefore do not contribute to any calories or impact blood glucose levels.
When they reach the colon, gut microbes cleave off the glucose molecules and use them as an energy source.
The remaining steviol backbone is then absorbed via the portal vein, metabolized by the liver and excreted in urine
Stevia is a sugar substitute made from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant of South America.
The leaves contain chemicals called steviol glycosides that have a highly concentrated sweet flavor.
Stevia is about 200 to 400 times sweeter than table sugar and is a non-nutritive sweetener, which means it has no carbohydrates, calories, or artificial ingredients.
You can find stevia in powder or liquid form in supermarkets and natural food stores in the baking goods or health food aisles.
It comes in tabletop packets (usually green), liquid drops, dissolvable tablets, and spoonable products, as well as baking blends.
Among brand names, SweetLeaf is a sweetener made from stevia extract, and both Truvia and Pure Via are stevia-based.
Some stores also have generic stevia products.
You may even get your caffeine fix with artificial sweeteners.
Major U.S. soda companies now sell diet cola soft drinks sweetened with stevia. Some flavored waters also have it.
Some people find stevia bitter, but others think it tastes like menthol.
Try it in your morning coffee or sprinkled over your oatmeal to see if you like the taste.
STEVIA HEALTH BENEFITS
Stevia is natural, unlike other sugar substitutes. In South America and Asia, people have been using stevia leaves to sweeten drinks like tea for many years.
Stevia can also be helpful for:
Diabetes. If you have diabetes, stevia can be a way to sweeten your yogurt or hot tea without adding carbohydrates and to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
But, some artificial sweeteners may not be as helpful if used in large amounts.
We need more research on the benefits of stevia for diabetes.
A healthy weight management program.
It may help you lose weight and lower your risk of obesity and related health conditions.
But some studies have shown weight gain due to how the brain reacts to sweetness with signs to eat more.
More studies are needed to confirm weight loss benefits.
A low-calorie or ketogenic diet.
Stevia can be a good substitute for sugar because it only adds a few or no calories to your diet.
COOKING WITH STEVIA:
You can use stevia the way you would table sugar.
To include it in some of your favorite foods and drinks, you can:
Sprinkle it on.
You can add some stevia to your cereal or use it in hot or cold drinks.
Cook with it. It's best to check the package before you measure out sweetener, as each brand has its own sugar-to-stevia ratio.
If you use too much, it can cause a bitter aftertaste.
Use it for baking.
Baking with stevia can be tricky.
Because it doesn’t have the same chemical makeup as sugar, stevia won’t give cakes, cookies, and breads the right texture.
Try experimenting with different amounts or extra ingredients, like adding whipped egg whites to a cake batter or extra baking powder and baking soda to a quick bread dough to help them rise.
SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT STEVIA LEAF EXTRACT:
First aid measures:
Description of first aid measures:
General advice:
Consult a physician.
Show this safety data sheet to the doctor in attendance.
Move out of dangerous area:
If inhaled:
If breathed in, move person into fresh air.
If not breathing, give artificial respiration.
Consult a physician.
In case of skin contact:
Take off contaminated clothing and shoes immediately.
Wash off with soap and plenty of water.
Consult a physician.
In case of eye contact:
Rinse thoroughly with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes and consult a physician.
Continue rinsing eyes during transport to hospital.
If swallowed:
Do NOT induce vomiting.
Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person.
Rinse mouth with water.
Consult a physician.
Firefighting measures:
Extinguishing media:
Suitable extinguishing media:
Use water spray, alcohol-resistant foam, dry chemical or carbon dioxide.
Special hazards arising from the substance or mixture
Carbon oxides, Nitrogen oxides (NOx), Hydrogen chloride gas
Advice for firefighters:
Wear self-contained breathing apparatus for firefighting if necessary.
Accidental release measures:
Personal precautions, protective equipment and emergency procedures
Use personal protective equipment.
Avoid breathing vapours, mist or gas.
Evacuate personnel to safe areas.
Environmental precautions:
Prevent further leakage or spillage if safe to do so.
Do not let product enter drains.
Discharge into the environment must be avoided.
Methods and materials for containment and cleaning up:
Soak up with inert absorbent material and dispose of as hazardous waste.
Keep in suitable, closed containers for disposal.
Handling and storage:
Precautions for safe handling:
Avoid inhalation of vapour or mist.
Conditions for safe storage, including any incompatibilities:
Keep container tightly closed in a dry and well-ventilated place.
Containers which are opened must be carefully resealed and kept upright to prevent leakage.
Storage class (TRGS 510): 8A: Combustible, corrosive hazardous materials
Exposure controls/personal protection:
Control parameters:
Components with workplace control parameters
Contains no substances with occupational exposure limit values.
Exposure controls:
Appropriate engineering controls:
Handle in accordance with good industrial hygiene and safety practice.
Wash hands before breaks and at the end of workday.
Personal protective equipment:
Eye/face protection:
Tightly fitting safety goggles.
Faceshield (8-inch minimum).
Use equipment for eye protection tested and approved under appropriate government standards such as NIOSH (US) or EN 166(EU).
Skin protection:
Handle with gloves.
Gloves must be inspected prior to use.
Use proper glove
removal technique (without touching glove's outer surface) to avoid skin contact with this product.
Dispose of contaminated gloves after use in accordance with applicable laws and good laboratory practices.
Wash and dry hands.
Full contact:
Material: Nitrile rubber
Minimum layer thickness: 0.11 mm
Break through time: 480 min
Material tested:Dermatril (KCL 740 / Aldrich Z677272, Size M)
Splash contact
Material: Nitrile rubber
Minimum layer thickness: 0.11 mm
Break through time: 480 min
Material tested:Dermatril (KCL 740 / Aldrich Z677272, Size M)
It should not be construed as offering an approval for any specific use scenario.
Body Protection:
Complete suit protecting against chemicals, The type of protective equipment must be selected according to the concentration and amount of the dangerous substance at the specific workplace.
Respiratory protection:
Where risk assessment shows air-purifying respirators are appropriate use a fullface respirator with multi-purpose combination (US) or type ABEK (EN 14387) respirator cartridges as a backup to engineering controls.
If the respirator is the sole means of protection, use a full-face supplied air respirator.
Use respirators and components tested and approved under appropriate government standards such as NIOSH (US) or CEN (EU).
Control of environmental exposure
Prevent further leakage or spillage if safe to do so.
Do not let product enter drains.
Discharge into the environment must be avoided.
Stability and reactivity:
Chemical stability:
Stable under recommended storage conditions.
Incompatible materials:
Strong oxidizing agents:
Hazardous decomposition products:
Hazardous decomposition products formed under fire conditions.
Carbon oxides, Nitrogen oxides (NOx), Hydrogen chloride gas.
Disposal considerations:
Waste treatment methods:
Product:
Offer surplus and non-recyclable solutions to a licensed disposal company.
Contact a licensed professional waste disposal service to dispose of this material.
Contaminated packaging:
Dispose of as unused product.
