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stevia
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Is Stevia Safe?
Depends who you ask.
"For hundreds of years, people in Paraguay and Brazil have used a sweet
leaf to sweeten bitter herbal teas including mate. For nearly 20
years, Japanese consumers by the millions have used extracts of the
same plant as a safe, natural, non-caloric sweetener."
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"Stevioside is a great dietary supplement if you have a sweet tooth, are diabetic, overweight, following a low carb diet, concerned about cavities, or simply want to cut down on your sugar or artificial sweetener intake."
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Con's
The FDA's position
Stevia leaves are a native product in Brazil and
Paraguay. The extract, stevioside, has reportedly been
approved for use in foods in Brazil and Japan. The
product is used in these countries as a table-top
sweetener in virtually all food commodities and as a
flavor enhancer in such products as teas. Stevioside
is reportedly 250-300 times sweeter than sugar and
contributes no calories to the diet.
With regard to its use in foods, stevia is not an
approved food additive nor affirmed as GRAS in the
United States. Available toxicological information on
stevia is inadequate to demonstrate its safety as a
food additive or to affirm its status as GRAS.
However, with regard to its use in dietary
supplements, dietary ingredients, including stevia,
are not subject to food additive regulations.
Stevia leaves and stevioside have been offered for
entry both in bulk and in finished products. Examples
of products detained because of stevia include teas,
drinks, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and candies. FDA
analysis performed by Dallas district found diet teas
to consist of up to six percent of stevioside.
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"...there is no regulation in effect that provides for the safe use of stevia, nor is there a sufficient basis to conclude that stevia in generally recognized as safe among qualified experts for its intended use in food. Therefore, stevia is an unapproved food additive that is unsafe under Section 409 of the Act..."
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World Health Organization
"The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) reviewed stevioside in 1998, but could not quantify an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) because of inadequate data on the composition and safety of stevioside. The Committee recommended that further studies be done on the metabolism of stevioside in humans and on the potential genetic effects of steviol (a metabolite of stevioside). A summary table showing "no ADI allocated" for stevioside is dated June 1998."
(per
Center for Science in the Public Interest
5)
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Includes
comments on Stevia by the FDA,
The Scientific Committee on Food for the European Commission,
United Kingdom
Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,
World Health Organization,
and links to scientific articles.
5
Also see
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Stevia Leaf - Too Good to be Legal? By Rob McCaleb, president of the Herb Research Foundation.
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Why should I use Stevioside?
at Stevia Stevioside Hub
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AUTOMATIC DETENTION OF STEVIA LEAVES, EXTRACT OF
STEVIA LEAVES, AND FOOD CONTAINING STEVIA
REVISED 2/2/96, ATTACHMENT REVISED 5/28/03
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Dietary Supplements
at the
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA
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Stevia: Not Ready For Prime Time
Center for Science in the Public Interest
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Will the FDA Approve Stevia?
By David Mendosa
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Questions and Answers about Stevia
By David Richard
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Upper Canada Stevia Company
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