Everything You Need to Know About Stevia Sweeteners
https://foodinsight.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-stevia-sweeteners/
WHAT ARE STEVIA SWEETENERS?
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.
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.1,2
ARE STEVIA SWEETENERS SAFE TO CONSUME?
YES. High-purity steviol glycosides are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS), a regulatory review process category used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (
FDA). GRAS requires expert consensus that a food ingredient is safe for its intended use. In 2008, the FDA made its first GRAS determination on a stevia sweetener, rebaudioside A, purified from
Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni). Whole stevia leaves and crude stevia leaf extracts are not approved food additives because there is not enough toxicological information available, according to the FDA.3 However, the use of stevia leaves and crude stevia leaf extracts in dietary supplements are not subject to FDA food additive regulations.
Leading global health authorities such as the European Food Safety Authority (
EFSA) and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (
JECFA) have concluded that high-purity steviol glycosides are safe for consumption within the acceptable daily intake (ADI) level.4,5,6 The safety of stevia sweeteners has also been confirmed by
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare;
Food Standards Australia New Zealand; and
Health Canada. Based on the conclusions of these global authorities, stevia sweeteners are currently permitted for use in more than 60 countries. For more on the FDA GRAS process, see the
“What is GRAS?” below.
Because all steviol glycosides are metabolized to one common end product, steviol, the JECFA has established a group ADI for stevia sweeteners of four milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight per day of steviol equivalents. This is equivalent to 12 mg/kg of body weight per day of rebaudioside A and 10 mg/kg of body weight per day of stevioside. The FDA refers to the ADI established by the JECFA for certain high-purity steviol glycosides purified from the leaves of
Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni).
The ADI represents an amount 100 times less than the quantity of stevia sweeteners found to achieve a no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) in toxicology studies. The ADI is a conservative number that the vast majority of people will not reach. While information on the amount of stevia sweeteners people consume is limited in the U.S., estimates of daily intake are below the ADI.7,70 Globally, intake of stevia sweeteners also remains well below the ADI. A 2018 scientific review found that studies conducted since 2008 raise no concerns for exceeding the ADI of the major low- and no-calorie sweeteners—including stevia sweeteners—in the general population.
