DO you know what my favorite all natural sweetener is...sugar. There is nothing wrong with consuming sugar in moderation. The probalem is people feel the need to drink can after can of soda all day long. This is bad no matter what sweetener is in it. I drink real soda occasionally and water or herbal tea the rest of the time. I suppose this is better than splenda...i HATE splenda.

The "safety" of raw stevia should no longer be questioned. It's been used in raw form for centuries by indigenous people without any consequences. It's also been used for decades as an artificial sweetener (extract) in Japan. In fact, it accounts for 40% of the sweeteners on the market in Japan (Wikipedia). Here's an ironic statement from the article: "The FDA requires proof of safety before recognizing a food additive as safe. A similar burden of proof is required for the FDA to ban a substance or label it unsafe. Nevertheless, stevia remained banned until after the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act forced the FDA in 1995 to revise its stance to permit stevia to be used as a dietary supplement, although not as a food additive — a position that stevia proponents regard as contradictory because it simultaneously labels stevia as safe and unsafe, depending on how it is sold."

I've used it with tea. I'd throw a leaf in with my tea bag and it would add just a bit of sweetness, with almost no additional calories.

You know what I find "funny"? The fact that the FDA hasn't approved Stevia, yet GMO is approved for human consumption with no testing. And we don't get to have it labeled as such so we can decide whether we want to consume GMO or not.
I'm also in the sugar camp, artificial sweetners are rancid! ewww. Give me natural cane sugar anyday

I'm with you, Rtarara. Sugar, honey, agave nectar on occasion ... in moderation there's nothing wrong with these natural ingredients!

umm isn't sugar one of those non sustainable crops that takes away from the production of more nutritious foods? If stevia is able to reduce our usage of sugar wouldn't that be good for the environment?

To the last poster: It's just too bad here in the USA no one actually uses cane sugar. It's all High Fructose Corn Syrup which is about the worst sweetener possible for the human body.

It's still such a shame that the FDA hasnt approved Stevia in any way, especially when they let messes like Sweet n Low on the market. Not to mention all the other unhealthy or dangerous items the FDA approves. It's sad that politics effects the well being of Americans.

I've done some research on Stevia and could not find any true evidence to suggest that it was going to kill people like the FDA and others have claimed in an attempt to keep Stevia out of the country. I've had a stevia plant and was thrilled with the sweetness you could obtain from the plaint.

As a nurse who is always looking for ways to satisfy a diabetic person's cravings for desserty foods while following their diet plan, I have discussed Stevia in diabetic ed. classes and have had people come back to me with wonderful reports of their use of Stevia.

I'd be more concerned about things like Splenda and it's chemical processes than I would be about an all natural plant like Stevia. I believe yet again that big business is paying off the feds to prevent financial loss from artificial sweetening agents.

PTG,

GDGP! (GodDamnGoodPoint)! IT is Outrageous.

I have been using stevia for 4 years now with no problems. I use it in my tea as I have a real sweet-tooth. I get a throat irritation when I ingest Sweet'n'low or other artificial sweetners so it is an obvious choice for me. Natural sugars make me bloated and grumpy.

Next I want to try baking with it.

Unfortunately in US any sweet product that we eat it tainted by the high fructose corn syrup. Specially the fructose in free form is responsibly for the obesity epidemic in US.
One of the worts sweeter that FDA approve with Rumsfelt dirty hand was Aspartame that is uses in most diet product in US. In US alone it is responsible for 10 fold increase in brain tumor in last 20 years.
I will highly recommended to see the movie "Sweet misery". It really shocking what the so coled save sugar substitute doing to the people.

Most herbal product are by fare safer than any artificially created product. Even particular chemical extract from herbs are not save too. That because there are not balance. Tee for example have something like 700 chemicals. Some of them can be very dangers if used alone.

Stevia is another product that that sweetener corporation try to kill.

By the way in Japan beside using for 30 years stevia, they also using another natural sweetener - sugar alcohol.

Stevia works great for those with diabetes. The comment that the sugar using from the canes etc is all natural, is like saying that white flower used for white bread is good for us.. its bleached and many other things.. the can on this drink is reusable.. I see nothing wrong with it.. When growing stevia it is best to get a plant that is sweet, by that i mean its few in # compared to the bitter, and one should clone the plant keep a good supply going...

When Donald Rumsfeld was CEO of G.D. Searl (before it was bought by the big M) he fought to have Stevia banned to lessen its competition with aspartame.

When Donald Rumsfeld was CEO of G.D. Searl (before it was bought by the big M) he fought to have Stevia banned to lessen its competition with aspartame.

I could never understand why a natural sweetener such as Stevia would be considered so risky from a 'lack of research data', when the FDA could so easily approve the use of Aspartame as an ingredient, when it has significant side effects from prolonged use. (I cannot use 'diet' products with it in it, without getting a headache).

e.g. I used to chew sugar-free gum -a lot- but found that I'd also get headaches as if I were drinking a 'diet' soda. I have since switched to gum sweetened with Stevia, and I could chew the same piece for as long as I wished, and it tasted exactly the same as the artificially-sweetened gum.

Seeing that a high glucose diet is certainly not healthy - detrimental even - yet we're still addicted to sweet foods, why hasn't Stevia finally made it's debut in North America?

I don't get why people drink so many soft drinks anyway...especially drinking coke which is just a big ol' can of corn. :P

When I went to a nutritionist after finding out I had a condition that would eventually cause high BP and perhaps kidney failure in a few decades, she introduced me to stevia. I don't use it all the time, but when for instance making smoothies that I want to sweeten, if I'm watching my calorie intake, stevia is great. I've also made a nearly sugar-free lemon meringue pie with it, because my grandmother cannot have sugar and I wanted her to be able to eat pie at Thanksgiving. It turned out fine.

Stevia does have a slight aftertaste, but no worse than that artificial crap.

My husband is diabetic and I wish I could find yogurt that was sweetened with stevia instead of aspartame. I would feel better about him eating it all the time (he won't do unsweetened yogurt). Of course, because stevia isn't technically a "sweetener" here they can't really do that.

RE the FDA saying it's both safe (labeled "supplement") as opposed to unsafe (labeled "sweetener") I wouldn't actually say that, knowing that practically anything can be labeled a supplement unless it's like hemlock or something doesn't really give much of a stamp of approval. However, given how poor a track record the FDA has in disapproving things that are proven dangerous to eat, the fact they have not approved stevia as a sweetener certainly doesn't mean it is dangerous at all. I suspect it's like anything - eat shovelfuls of it a day and there's bound to be some effects, eat it in moderation you'll probably be all right.

But honest studies are hard to come by with stevia, so it'll be ages before it gets anywhere. High fructose corn syrup unfortunately is so cheap, because our US tax dollars subsidize it so heavily, that it's going to be hard to beat it, even with the high corn prices.

Actually, maybe the record corn prices WILL price hfcs out of the market...one of the FEW benefits from these horrible food prices.

Corn is horrible - it ruins our meat (corn fed beef is higher in fat than grass-fed) and its sweetener is the worst there is. We are victims of our farm subsidies, which no longer go to the small farmer anyway but big agribusiness. Everyone around the world makes total fun of Americans for being overweight as a nation because they think we're lazy (well, a little bit, maybe). But the real reasons have to do with the overproduction of corn and the nature of a large country which is mostly spread out and unwalkable. Living as I do in a "gateway" city in eastern MA, WE have options, trains and public transit and walking, but most of America does not. It's a real shame that on top of our geography (also a product of our emphasis on building roads instead of trains/bus routes), we have to have our diet dictated by big business welfare as well.

Just because something is natural doesn't mean it is safe/healthy. This argument is a logical fallacy called appeal to nature.

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/adnature.html

I actually just read last week that SweetLeaf Stevia got approval through the FDA to marketed as a sweetener and Coke is currently working with Cargil. It looks like the FDA is finally coming around and realizing stevia is safe! Finally!

People are always going to debate this...

We did a review over at http://www.leafygreen.info/beverage-reviews/zevia-cola/

Enjoy the arguments

I have been using Stevia for over a year. I do not know what to think. It makes my drinks taste good. I use it in unsweetened cranberry juice to help me with infections. I need to stop my sugar intake. That is why I switched to Stevia in the first place. I ask a nutritionist (hospital certified) if I could use Stevia. She said yes. So I used it. But I still am concerned about this continual controversy over its use. What a person to do?

Hi ,
If ayone is interested to buy stevia, you can contact me at kumar@edbizworld.com
Its organic stevia to be exported from India.
With Regards,
Kumar

How does one transform leaf stevia (I'm attempting to grow a plant from a cutting) for use in baking/cooking?
Also, I'd like any info re special diets for a 10-yr-old boy with ADHD/ODD. The medical pros downplay the idea of elimination diets to check for food sensitivities, etc.. but I know people who swear by them, having gotten good results by pinpointing and removing the dietary culprits from what they consume.
Yes, Virginia, there is a correlation between what we are and what we eat...

You can't blame the FDA for doing its job, when Congress lets it do its job. Loads of studies have been done on aspartame, sucralose (110 in that instance), and other sweeteners, but not many had been conducted on stevia. The studies on stevia that were negative turned out not to characterize the substance in humans, which is no surprise. However, food additives do need a body of evidence to be approved

Don't buy the bunk that some kind of consipracy theory is behind the stevia ban. If it is, you had also better assume Australia, Canada, the U.S., Europe, and many other countires (and regions) are involved. Coca-Cola and other Fortune 500 companies have been trying to get stevia on the market for yeras- companies much larger than G.D. Searl.

So Coca-Cola and Cargill funded the research necessary to prove the safety of Truvia- as required by law. Great. But just because a chemical is natural doesn't mean there isn't also big business behind it- there is a huge market for all-natural products, and corporations know it. They have been after it for years. I'm pretty pleased the FDA stood their ground until the requisite proof was delivered, and now that it is here, great, enjoy your stevia.