STEVIA (Stevia rebaudiana)

A member of the Astraceae or Aster family, stevia is a small perennial shrub native to the highland regions of northeastern Paraguay. Its crushed leaves have been used as a sweetener there for centuries. Common names for the plant include honey grass and sugar leaf. Stevia grows two to four feet tall on slender stems. Its medium green leaves are slightly pubescent, with toothed margins.

Stevia's sweetness can be attributed to its naturally occurring glycosidic compounds. These include stevioside and rebaudioside A which, when extracted and refined, are 200 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose. Moreover, rebaudioside A doesn't have the unpleasant, bitter aftertaste of the crushed leaf.

Stevia's potential as a major commercial sweetening agent has long been recognized. It has been widely consumed in Brazil and Japan for decades. The Japanese use stevia primarily in sodas, candy, and pickled vegetables. The plant was ready to break into the American market in the mid-1980s, when tea companies such as Lipton and Celestial Seasonings developed stevia-flavored products and many small companies began to market and sell stevia as a calorie-free sugar substitute.

But then the FDA intervened. It began seizing shipments of the plant and, in 1991, declared it an "unsafe food additive" and sent out an "import alert" to inspectors in the field. Numerous petitions were filed to have the ban lifted. Stevia advocates submitted reports from Japanese toxicologists and food-safety experts stating that the plant was risk-free. They also argued that stevia's long history of use as a food was enough to secure it "generally recognized as safe", or GRAS, status, and thus exemption from the alert. The FDA, however, was not convinced. Administration officials, citing a few contested studies on laboratory animals, alleged that the plant may have contraceptive properties and may actually lower blood-sugar levels, presenting a potential threat to people suffering from hypoglycemia. The actions of the FDA are shrouded in controversy. Many stevia advocates believe that they are motivated not by concern for public health, but by loyalty to the multimillion-dollar sugar and synthetic sweetener industries. The FDA denies any such bias.

In 1994, Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, altering the country's regulatory procedure for herbs and traditional medicines. The new legislation allows stevia to be sold as a "dietary supplement" but not as a sweetener.

Stevia is now available in health food stores across the nation. It's sold in many different forms: as dried leaf, as powdered and liquid extract, and as a cosmetic. But what are people using it for? Some may be using it to improve their complexions, but most are using it in exactly the way they're not supposed to—as a sweetener. There's a quiet revolution going on, driven mainly by word of mouth among health food enthusiasts, herb fanatics, diabetics, and New Age folk. Several stevia cookbooks have appeared in recent years, packed with recipes for savories and desserts.

Thanks to Anna Bergvelt who report-ed on stevia at our October meeting. She provided the above source from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Plants and Garden News, Winter 2001.

Marcia Eischen provided the following from Nutrition Action Healthletter of May 2004:
"Stevia can't be used as an ingredient in food. But it can be sold as a supplement, since safety rules for supplements are looser than for foods. Stevia is promoted by the health-food industry as a natural alternative to synthetic sweeteners like saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose. But 'natural' doesn't automatically mean 'safe.'"

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