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Posts Tagged ‘sweetener’

April 16, 2009

Truvia Vies For Your Taste Buds »

The stevia plant has long been used as a sweetener in many countries, and is now just starting to appear on the US market. Marketed as Truvia, this “natural” sweetner is vying for your taste buds in a heated battle with the big three artificial sweetners – aspartame (Sweet and Low), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharin (Equal). Because stevia comes from a plant, companies can market it as a natural sweetener, hence its green packaging. However, this doesn’t come without a price – stevia needs to be extracted from a particular part of the leaf and then processed correctly in order to avoid an aftertaste of licorice and menthol. But what about any health risks? Despite hundreds of studies, none of the artificial sweeteners have been steadfastly linked to any medical conditions, but some beg to differ. For now stevia is safe for consumption, according to the FDA. But as stevia becomes more widely adopted, it will no doubt receive the same scrutiny as its pink, blue, and yellow counterparts.

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Posted by Steven / April 16, 2009 9:29 pm / Permalink / Comments (3) / Trackbacks (0)