What if there was a natural sweetener called Stevia that:

• Was 300 times sweeter than regular sugar, with minimal aftertaste?
• Had no calories?
  Was suitable for diabetics?
• Appropriate for children?
• Did not cause cavities?
• Was heat stable and thus could be
  used for cooking and baking?
• Was a great alternative to synthetic sweeteners?
• Easily blended with other sweeteners, such as honey?
• And already widely and safely consumed in many countries around the world for decades?

Wouldn’t you think that you would already know about it? Wouldn’t you think that many of our food products would already be sweetened by it instead of artificial sweeteners?

Well, this remarkable no-calorie sweetener is called Stevia, unfortunately, not a household name. It should be. We believe that eventually Stevia will be one of the most popular and widely used sweeteners in the world. With the availability of Stevia, there seems to be little reason to use artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, Splenda and Saccharin.

Originally introduced to Japan in 1970 by food-product manufacturers, stevia products quickly became popular. By 1988, they represented approximately 41% of the market share of potently sweet substances consumed in Japan. In addition to widespread use as a tabletop sweetener, like the packets of saccharin (“Sweet-n-Low”) and aspartame (“Equal”) commonly found in the United States, stevia was also used by the Japanese to sweeten a variety of food products, including ice cream, bread, candies, pickles, seafood, vegetables, and soft drinks.

Japan’s experience proved several other significant facts about this phenomenal plant: its adaptability and its safety. Stevia’s safety was proven through extensive scientific testing. Only 24 percent of Japanese aged 15 and older are believed to be overweight, compared to over 65 percent of adults in the United States.

A 2002 study in Japan showed that steva extract and steviol do not have any DNA-damaging activity. J Toxicol Sci. 2002 Dec;27 Suppl 1:1-8.

Stevia has no effects on male fertility and even decreased cancer in rats. Stevia has been shown to have antihypertensive qualities. The genetic toxicity of stevia is regarded as negligible and safe used in ordinary amounts and no allergic reactions seem to exist.

Stevia stimulates the release of insulin via a direct action on the pancreatic beta cells and normalizes the response to glucose, especially in Type 2 diabetes. Metabolism 2000;49:208.

The spread of the stevia phenomenon was not limited to Japan. Today it is also grown and used in approximately 10 other countries outside South America, including China, Germany, Malaysia, Israel and South Korea. Stevia might by now be entrenched in the United States as well, had it not been for a concerted effort to block its very entry by powerful sugar and pharmaceutical lobby groups.

In 1991, at the request of an anonymous complainant, the United States Food and Drug Administration labelled 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 this designation goes against the FDA’s guidelines, under which any natural substance used prior to 1958 with no reported adverse effects should be recognized as safe. Wikipedia

The politics of big sugar and agribusiness in the U.S. keep the domestic cost of table sugar high, and instead promotes high fructose corn syrup, which is responsible for billions of dollars in health care costs for diabetes and obesity.

The American public will continue to suffer until Stevia is permitted to be used as a sweetener in food products and beverages.