The American Botanical Council (ABC) has called for the FDA to lift its ban on the importation of stevia for use as a sweetener, in an article by ABC founder and executive director Mark Blumenthal, printed in the organization's publication HerbalGram.
"The FDA's import alert is an outdated policy, based on the market and regulatory conditions in the late 1980s," Blumenthal writes. "If FDA were to rescind its stevia import alert, importers of stevia would still have the burden of confirming safety for use."
Stevia is a natural sweetener derived from the leaves of the tropical American plant Stevia rebaudiana. Because it has approximately 300 times the sweetness of sugar, it only needs to be used in small quantities to supply a sweet taste. It contains no calories and does not affect blood sugar levels.
The FDA currently prohibits the use of stevia as a sweetener, however, and only allows its importation or use for products labeled as nutritional supplements. In his article, Blumenthal calls these regulations "unreasonable and illogical, [considering] current scientific and medical information supporting the safety of stevia when consumed in relatively small amounts in foods to give them a sweet taste."
The FDA has already rejected two petitions to grant stevia "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) status, in 1992 and 1994. Growing interest in stevia from the mainstream beverage industry, however, has many analysts predicting that major companies such as Coca-Cola might soon submit another petition, and that this one might have more success.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, stevia extracts are safe in daily doses of up to four milligrams per kilogram of body weights.
"This paves the way for more regulatory approvals around the world," Blumenthal writes.
Indeed, Australia and New Zealand approved stevia for use just last month.
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An article in the March 09 issue of Willy St Co-op Reader (Madison, WI) sited information from the Organic Consumers Association that reads:
"The FDA on December 17th, 2008 declared a natural, zero-calorie sweetener derived from the stevia plant as safe for use in foods and beverages, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The agency's non-objection to petitions clears the way for Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and other companies to use high-purity stevia extracts in variety of products.
"The FDA issued letters to Cargill Inc. and Whole Earth Sweetener Co., a unit of Merisant Co., stating that it has no objections to their claims that rebaudioside A, a highly purified derivative of stevia, poses no health threat when used in foods and beverages. Both companies filed notices with the agency in May claiming the sweetener should be generally recognized as safe(GRAS)....
"Both Cargill and Merisant already sell tabletop versions of the sweetener. -foodprocessing.com"
Well, this is very convenient for beverage co.s now that high fructose corn syrup and NutraSweet (Rumsfeld's poison)are getting a bad rap. While it's great that beverages "sweetened" with stevia may be labeled as such now with the FDA blessing, it's a shame, but not surprisingly, that it took BIG AG (Monsanto/Cargill) and big beverage co.s to suddenly get FDA to change their tune about stevia. I recommend any stevia extract NOT produced by the GMO-pushing Cargill; the companies that have laid the ground work for stevia's release from labeling bondage should be the one's rewarded, so read the very small print.