Stevia is a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of about 240
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of herbs and
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s in the sunflower family (
AsteraceaeThe family Asteraceae or Compositae is the second largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species....
), native to subtropical and tropical
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
and
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
. The species
Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as
sweetleaf,
sweet leaf,
sugarleaf, or simply
stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sweetener and
sugar substituteA sugar substitute is a food additive that duplicates the effect of sugar in taste, but usually has less food energy. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, referred to as artificial sweeteners.An important class of sugar substitutes...
, stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like
aftertasteAftertaste is the persistence of a sensation of flavor. Both food and drink may have an aftertaste. Alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer and whiskey are noted for having particularly strong aftertastes. Foodstuffs with notable aftertastes include spicy food, such as Mexican food , or Indian food...
at high concentrations.
With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for
low-carbohydrateLow-carbohydrate diets or low-carb diets are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate consumption usually for weight control or for the treatment of obesity. Foods high in digestible carbohydrates Low-carbohydrate diets or low-carb diets are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate...
, low-sugar food alternatives. Medical research has also shown possible benefits of stevia in treating
obesityObesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
and high blood pressure. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on
carbohydrateCarbohydrates
[Means "hydrates of carbon"] or saccharides
[The word comes from the Greek σάκχαρον, sákcharon, meaning "sugar").] are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules...
-controlled diets. However, health and political controversies have limited stevia's availability in many countries; for example, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banned it in the early 1990s unless labeled as a supplement. Stevia is widely used as a sweetener in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and it is now available in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as a
dietary supplementA dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids or amino acids, that are missing or are not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person's diet...
.
Rebiana is a trade name for a zero-calorie sweetener containing mainly the
steviol glycosideThe steviol glycosides are responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the stevia plant .These compounds range in sweetness from 40 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose.They are heat-stable, pH-stable, and do not ferment...
rebaudioside A (Reb-A), which is extracted from stevia.
Truvia is the consumer brand for a sweetener made of
erythritolErythritol is a natural sugar alcohol which has been approved for use in the United States and throughout much of the world. It occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods . At the industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast, Moniliella pollinis...
, Rebiana and natural flavors marketed by
CargillCargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation, and is based in the state of Minnesota in the United States. It was founded in 1865, and has grown into the country's largest privately held corporation . Were it a publicly held company, it would rank in the top 10 companies...
and developed jointly with
The Coca-Cola CompanyThe Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola,...
. In December 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration permitted Reb A based sweeteners as food additives.
PureVia is the
PepsiCoPepsiCo, Incorporated is a Fortune 500, American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, NY with interests in manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, as well as salty, sweet and grain-based snacks, and other foods...
and
MerisantMerisant Company is a United States manufacturer of artificial sweeteners, including Equal and Canderel.The company was formed from Monsanto Company's tabletop sweetener business, which was acquired by a group of investors in 2000....
brand of sweetener made of
erythritolErythritol is a natural sugar alcohol which has been approved for use in the United States and throughout much of the world. It occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods . At the industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast, Moniliella pollinis...
,
isomaltuloseIsomaltulose , also known by the trade names Palatinose and NRGylose or Xtend Isomaltulose, is a disaccharide that is commercially manufactured enzymatically from sucrose via bacterial fermentation. It is a natural constituent of honey and sugar cane and has a very natural sweet taste...
, Reb A, cellulose powder and natural flavors.
History and use
The genus
Stevia consists of 240 species of plants native to South America, Central America, and Mexico, with several species found as far north as
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
,
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
, and
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. Human use of the sweet species
S. rebaudiana originated in South America. The leaves of the stevia plant have 30–45 times the sweetness of
sucroseSucrose, commonly called table sugar, is a moosaccharide of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula C12H22O11. This white, odorless, crystalline powder has a pleasing, sweet taste. It is best known for its role in human nutrition...
(ordinary table sugar). The leaves can be eaten fresh, or put in teas and foods.
In 1899, The Swiss botanist
Moisés Santiago BertoniMoisè Giacomo Bertoni or Moisés Santiago Bertoni was a Swiss botanist. He emigrated to South America in 1884...
first described the plant and the sweet taste in detail. But only limited research was conducted on the topic, until in 1931, two
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
chemists isolated the
glycosideIn chemistry, glycosides are molecules in which a sugar is bound to a non-carbohydrate moiety, usually a small organic molecule. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides; which can be activated by enzyme hydrolysis....
s that give stevia its sweet taste. These compounds were named stevioside and rebaudioside, and are 250–300 times sweeter than sucrose, heat stable,
pHpH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations...
stable, and non-
fermentableFermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. A more restricted definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
.
The exact structure of the aglycone and the glycoside were published in 1955.
In the early 1970s,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
began cultivating stevia as an alternative to artificial sweeteners such as
cyclamateCyclamate is an artificial sweetener that was discovered in 1937 at the University of Illinois by graduate student Michael Sveda.Like many artificial sweeteners, the sweetness of cyclamate was discovered by accident. Michael Sveda was working in the lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication...
and
saccharinSaccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfinide, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has an unpleasant bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations...
, which were suspected
carcinogenA carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide or radiation that is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer or in the increase of its propagation. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
s. The plant's leaves, the aqueous extract of the leaves, and purified steviosides are used as sweeteners. Since the Japanese firm Morita Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. produced the first commercial stevia sweetener in Japan in 1971, the Japanese have been using stevia in food products,
soft drinkA soft drink is a drink that does not contain alcohol . Soft drinks are often carbonated and commonly consumed while cold. The most common soft drinks are colas, flavored water, sparkling water, iced tea, sweet tea, lemonade, squash and fruit punch....
s (including Coca Cola), and for table use. Japan currently consumes more stevia than any other country, with stevia accounting for 40% of the sweetener market.
Today, stevia is cultivated and used in food elsewhere in east Asia, including in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
(since 1984),
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
,
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
,
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, and
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
. It can also be found in
Saint Kitts and NevisThe Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies...
, in parts of
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
(
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
,
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
,
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
, and
UruguayUruguay , is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.1 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An estimated 88–94% of the population are of mostly European and/or mixed descent.Uruguay's only land border is...
) and in
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
. China is the world's largest exporter of stevioside.
Stevia species are found in the wild in
semi-aridA Semi-arid climate or steppe climate generally describes climatic regions that receive low annual rainfall . A more precise definition is given by the Köppen climate classification that treats steppe climates as intermediates between the desert climates and humid climates in ecological...
habitatA habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular animal and plant species...
s ranging from grassland to mountain terrain. Stevia does produce
seedA seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s, but only a small percentage of them germinate. Planting
clonedVegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction for plants, and is also called vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication, or vegetative cloning. It is a process by which new plant "individuals" arise or are obtained without production of seeds or spores...
stevia is a more effective method of reproduction.
Medicinal use
For centuries, the
GuaraníGuaraní are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America. They distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guaraní language. The traditional range of the Guaraní people is in what is now Paraguay between the Uruguay River and lower Paraguay River, the Corrientes and...
tribeThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
s of
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
, Bolivia and
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
used stevia, which they called
ka'a he'ê ("sweet herb"), as a sweetener in
yerba mateYerba mate or yerba-mate , Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, eastern Paraguay and southern Brazil...
and medicinal teas for treating
heartburnHeartburn or pyrosis is a painful and burning sensation in the esophagus, just behind the breastbone usually associated with regurgitation of gastric acid. The pain often rises in the chest and may radiate to the neck, throat, or angle of the jaw...
and other ailments. More recent medical research has shown promise in treating
obesityObesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
and
hypertensionHypertension is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated. It is also referred to as high blood pressure or shortened to HT, HTN or HPN. The word "hypertension", by itself, normally refers to systemic, arterial hypertension.Hypertension can be classified as either...
. Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, even enhancing glucose tolerance; therefore, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics and others on
carbohydrateCarbohydrates
[Means "hydrates of carbon"] or saccharides
[The word comes from the Greek σάκχαρον, sákcharon, meaning "sugar").] are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules...
-controlled diets.
Possible treatment of osteoporosis has been suggested by the patent application claim that eggshell breakage can be reduced by 75% by adding a small percentage of stevia leaf powder to chicken feed. It has also been suggested that pigs fed stevia extract had twice as much calcium content in their meat, but these claims have been unverified.
Availability
Steviol glycosideThe steviol glycosides are responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the stevia plant .These compounds range in sweetness from 40 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose.They are heat-stable, pH-stable, and do not ferment...
s were first commercialized as a sweetener in 1971 by the Japanese firm Morita Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd., a leading stevia extract producer in Japan.
Stevia has been grown on an experimental basis in
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
since 1987 for the purpose of determining the feasibility of growing the crop commercially. In the United States, Rebiana is
generally recognized as safeGenerally recognized as safe is an American Food and Drug Administration designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act food additive tolerance requirements.GRAS exemptions are granted...
as of December 2008, and stevia is also recognized as a
dietary supplementA dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids or amino acids, that are missing or are not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person's diet...
. Stevia has also been approved as a dietary supplement in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Since June 2008 it is approved as a sweetener for food and beverages in Australia and New Zealand. In Japan and South American countries, stevia may also be used as a food additive. Stevia is currently banned for use in food in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
except in France which approved it for a 2-year test starting September 2009. It is also banned in
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
and
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
.
In 2007,
The Coca-Cola CompanyThe Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola,...
announced plans to obtain approval for
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. In May 2008, Coke and Cargill announced the availability of
Truvia, a consumer brand stevia sweetener containing
erythritolErythritol is a natural sugar alcohol which has been approved for use in the United States and throughout much of the world. It occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods . At the industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast, Moniliella pollinis...
and Rebiana, which the FDA permitted as a food additive in December 2008. Coca-Cola announced intentions to release stevia-sweetened beverages in late December 2008.
Shortly afterward,
PepsiCoPepsiCo, Incorporated is a Fortune 500, American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, NY with interests in manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, as well as salty, sweet and grain-based snacks, and other foods...
and Pure Circle announced
PureVia, their brand of stevia-based sweetener, but withheld release of beverages sweetened with reb-A until receipt of FDA confirmation. Since the FDA permitted Truvia and PureVia, both Coca Cola and PepsiCo have announced products that will contain their new sweetener.
Critics note that the FDA has not actually permitted the stevia plant itself to be used as a food additive, but only the Reb A extract.
Production
To produce rebaudioside A commercially, stevia plants are dried and subjected to a water extraction process. This crude extract contains about 50% rebaudioside A and is refined using crystallization and separation technologies to separate the various glycoside molecules in the extract. This allows the manufacturer to isolate pure rebaudioside A.
The National Research Council of Canada has patented a process for extracting sweet compounds from Stevia by column extraction at temperatures from 0-25°C , followed by purification by nanofiltration. A microfiltration pretreatment step is used to clarify the extract. Purification is by ultrafiltration followed by nanofiltration.
Controversies
Health controversy
A 1985 study reported that steviol, a breakdown product from stevioside and rebaudioside (two of the sweet
steviol glycosideThe steviol glycosides are responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the stevia plant .These compounds range in sweetness from 40 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose.They are heat-stable, pH-stable, and do not ferment...
s in the stevia leaf), is a
mutagenIn biology, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations cause cancer, mutagens are typically also carcinogens...
in the presence of a
liverThe liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
extract of pre-treated rats
— but this finding was criticized on procedural grounds that the data were mishandled in such a way that even
distilled waterDistilled water is water that has virtually all of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container, leaving most if not all solid contaminants behind. Applications=...
would appear mutagenic. Over the following years bioassay, cell culture, and animal studies have shown mixed results in terms of toxicology and adverse effects of stevia constituents, but in general, they have not been found to be harmful. While reports emerged that found steviol and stevioside to be weak mutagens, the bulk of studies show an absence of harmful effects. In a 2008 review, 14 of 16 studies cited showed no genotoxic activity for stevioside, 11 of 15 studies showed genotoxic activity for steviol, and no studies showed genotoxicity for Rebaudioside A. Nevertheless, even if a chemical can cause DNA damage in the controlled conditions of a bioassay (e.g., in bacteria, in mammalian cell cultures) it is a fundamentally different question whether it causes cancer in intact organisms (e.g., rodents, humans) or is teratogenic (i.e., causes birth defects). No evidence for stevia constituents causing cancer or birth defects has been found.
Other studies have shown stevia to improve insulin sensitivity in rats and possibly even to promote additional insulin production, helping to reverse diabetes and
metabolic syndromeMetabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It affects one in five people, and prevalence increases with age...
. Preliminary human studies suggest that stevia can help reduce
hypertensionHypertension is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated. It is also referred to as high blood pressure or shortened to HT, HTN or HPN. The word "hypertension", by itself, normally refers to systemic, arterial hypertension.Hypertension can be classified as either...
although another study has shown it to have no effect on hypertension. Indeed, millions of Japanese have been using stevia for over thirty years with no reported or known harmful effects. Similarly, stevia leaves have been used for centuries in South America spanning multiple generations in
ethnomedicalEthnomedicine is a sub-field of ethnobotany or medical anthropology that deals with the study of traditional medicines: not only those that have relevant written sources Ethnomedicine is a sub-field of ethnobotany or medical anthropology that deals with the study of traditional medicines: not only...
tradition as a treatment for type II diabetes.
In 2006, the
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
(WHO) performed a thorough evaluation of recent experimental studies of stevioside and steviols conducted on animals and humans, and concluded that "
stevioside and rebaudioside A are not genotoxic in vitroA procedure performed in vitro is performed not in a living organism but in a controlled environment, such as in a test tube or Petri dish...
or in vivoIn vivo refers to experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...
and that the genotoxicity of steviol and some of its oxidative derivatives in vitroA procedure performed in vitro is performed not in a living organism but in a controlled environment, such as in a test tube or Petri dish...
is not expressed in vivoIn vivo refers to experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...
."
The report also found no evidence of
carcinogenA carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide or radiation that is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer or in the increase of its propagation. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic activity. Furthermore, the report noted that "
stevioside has shown some evidence of pharmacological effects in patients with hypertensionHypertension is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated. It is also referred to as high blood pressure or shortened to HT, HTN or HPN. The word "hypertension", by itself, normally refers to systemic, arterial hypertension.Hypertension can be classified as either...
or with type-2 diabetes" but concluded that further study was required to determine proper dosage.
Whole foods proponents draw a distinction between consuming (and safety testing) only parts, such as stevia extracts and isolated compounds like stevioside, versus the whole herb. However, professionals in
pharmacognosyPharmacognosy is the study of medicines derived from natural sources. The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well...
, as well as physicians and science journalists disagree that whole foods are beneficial over extracted components, and may even be harmful.
Political controversy
In 1991, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Food and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is a Government agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, tobacco products, dietary supplements, Medication drugs, vaccines, Biopharmaceutical, blood transfusion,...
(FDA) labeled stevia as an "unsafe food additive" and restricted its import. The FDA's stated reason was "toxicological information on stevia is inadequate to demonstrate its safety." This ruling was controversial, as stevia proponents pointed out that this designation violated the FDA's own guidelines under which natural substances used prior to 1958, with no reported adverse effects, should be
generally recognized as safe (GRAS)Generally recognized as safe is an American Food and Drug Administration designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act food additive tolerance requirements.GRAS exemptions are granted...
as long as the substance was being used in the same way and format as prior to 1958.
Stevia occurs naturally, requiring no
patentA patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention....
to produce it. As a consequence, since the import ban in 1991, marketers and consumers of stevia have shared a belief that the FDA acted in response to industry pressure.
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
congressman
Jon KylJon Llewellyn Kyl is the Republican junior U.S. Senator representing Arizona. He is currently the Senate Minority Whip, tasked with maintaining party discipline. Jon Kyl was born in the Midwest and moved to Arizona for College and Law School. He later got married and launched his career in Arizona...
, for example, called the FDA action against stevia "a
restraint of tradeRestraint of trade is a common law doctrine relating to the enforceability of contractual restrictions on freedom to conduct business. In an old leading case of Mitchell v. Reynolds Lord Smith L.C. said,...
to benefit the artificial sweetener industry." To protect the complainant, the FDA deleted names in the original complaint in its responses to requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
Stevia remained banned until after the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act forced the FDA in 1995 to revise its stance to permit stevia to be used as a
dietary supplementA dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids or amino acids, that are missing or are not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person's diet...
, although not as a food additive — a position that stevia proponents regard as contradictory because it simultaneously labels stevia as safe and unsafe, depending on how it is sold.
Although unresolved questions remain about whether metabolic processes can produce a mutagen from stevia in animals, let alone in humans, the early studies nevertheless prompted the
European CommissionThe European Commission acts as an executive of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.The Commission operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27...
in 1999 to ban stevia's use in food in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
pending further research.
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
and
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
have banned it also. More recent data compiled in the safety evaluation released by the
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
in 2006 suggest that these policies may be obsolete.
In December 2008, the FDA gave a "no objection" approval for GRAS status to Truvia (developed by
CargillCargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation, and is based in the state of Minnesota in the United States. It was founded in 1865, and has grown into the country's largest privately held corporation . Were it a publicly held company, it would rank in the top 10 companies...
and
The Coca-Cola CompanyThe Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola,...
) and PureVia (developed by
PepsiCoPepsiCo, Incorporated is a Fortune 500, American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, NY with interests in manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, as well as salty, sweet and grain-based snacks, and other foods...
and the Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a subsidiary of
MerisantMerisant Company is a United States manufacturer of artificial sweeteners, including Equal and Canderel.The company was formed from Monsanto Company's tabletop sweetener business, which was acquired by a group of investors in 2000....
), both of which are wholly-derived from the Stevia plant.
Names in other languages
Both the sweetener and the stevia plant
Stevia rebaudiana (also known as
EupatoriumEupatorium is a genus of flowering plants, containing from 36 to 60 species depending on the classification system. Most are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 0.5–3 m tall. A few are shrubs. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
rebaudianum) are known simply as "stevia" in English-speaking countries as well as in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Norway and Sweden — although some of these countries also use other terms as shown below. Similar pronunciations occur in Japan (
sutebia or ステビア in
katakanais a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet. The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji....
), and in Thailand (
satiwia). In some countries (India, for example) the name translates literally as "sweet leaf." Below are some names for the stevia plant in various regions of the world:
- South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
(AfrikaansAfrikaans is an Indo-European language derived from Dutch and thus classified as Low Franconian West Germanic. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, the United...
): heuningblaar (honey leaf)
- China
China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
: 甜菊 (tian jü – sweet chrysanthemum), 甜菊叶 (tian jü ye – stevia leaf)
- Dutch-speaking countries
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
: honingkruid
- English-speaking countries: candy leaf, sugar leaf, sweetleaf (USA
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), sweet honey leaf (AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
), sweet herb of Paraguay
- German speaking countries, also Switzerland
Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
: Süßkraut, Süßblatt, Honigkraut
- Hungary
Hungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
: jázmin pakóca
- India
India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
: madhu parani (MarathiMarathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India and the 15th most spoken language in the world...
), gurmaar (PunjabiPunjabi or Panjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region ....
), madhu patra (SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
), seeni tulsi (TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia, Mauritius and Réunion as well as emigrant communities around the world...
), madhu patri (TeluguTelugu is a Dravidian language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is the official language of Andhra Pradesh, one of the largest states of India. It is also one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India and was conferred the status of a Classical language by the Government...
)
- Israel
Israel officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
: סטיביה (sṭīviyyāh in HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
)
- Japan
is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
: アマハステビア (amaha sutebia)
- Portuguese-speaking countries: capim doce (sweet grass), erva doce (sweet herb, also a Portuguese term for fennel
Fennel , is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
), estévia (BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
), folhas da stévia
- Spanish-speaking countries: hierba / yerba dulce, estevia, ka´a heê (sweet herb) (Guaraníes, Natives of Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
)
- Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
: sötflockel
- Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
: satiwia, หญ้าหวาน (ya wan, or sweet grass in BangkokBangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Mahanakhon , or กรุงเทพฯ Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It came to the forefront of Siam when it was given the...
)
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