Coca-Cola and Cargill to Market Natural Sweetener

[KarenHa]

From the Organic Consumers Association Newsletter, August 10, 2007

  The beverage and food industries have sought the "perfect" sweetener for decades.  It's no secret that standard table sugar and its even worse cousin, high-fructose corn syrup rots teeth, leads to obesity, and is a major contributor to diabetes.  So chemical companies have concocted an armada of synthetic sugar alternatives such as saccharin and aspartame that have been linked to everything from cancer to neurological disorders.
  Now Coca-Cola and Cargill have announced they have "developed" the perfect natural sweetener. The sweetener is stevia, a zero calorie plant-based sweetener that has been used for hundreds of years.  In Japan, 40% of the sweeteners consumed are from Stevia, so it can't really be called a "new" sweetener.  But here in the U.S., likely due to lobbying of the FDA by synthetic sweetener producers, stevia has been hidden in the shadows by strange labeling requirements that keep the average consumer from even understanding what stevia can be used for. 
  Coca-Cola and Cargill plan to bring a patented version of stevia to the mainstream as the perfect natural sweetener by removing some of the bitter aftertaste.  Is this good news or bad news? What's your opinion?

[CarolC]

In order to patent a natural plant, Coca Cola and Cargill would have to modify the plant, most likely genetically to produce something "new".  Interestingly, the FDA would not allow producers of stevia to call it a sweetener, because of the food industry lobby who did not want competition from a sugar "substitute" that was all natural in origin.  Those companies selling stevia were forced to market it as a dietary supplement.  I did notice recently that SweetLeaf (Wisdom in Gilbert, AZ, see www.sweetleaf.com) had changed their packaging to show a packet of stevia being poured into a cup of coffee or tea, hinting at what it is actually used for.  Since Coca Cola is not a food, but rather a concoction of chemicals and sugars that started out as a medical remedy that contained cocaine, then was regulated by the newly-found FDA because of its addictive properties, anything new they do to it will not redeem it.  Unfortunately, our government agency founded to protect us from foods and medicines that were bad for us, is owned lock, stock and barrel by the Corporations and will continue to approve unhealthy and dangerous products based on bogus research funded by those same corporations.  My only hope is that Cargill will not try to force out natural stevia once they have their modified form of it.

[Stan]

I've used stevia on numerous occasions and have never noticed a bitter taste.
I hope this is the beginning of the end for corn syrup and especially aspartame.  For sure it would be if we would just stop buying products that contained it....if thats possible.

[AmandaL]

I don't know if bitter is how I would describe stevia, but I really don't care for it--tastes funny to me.  The occasional times I use a sweetener I prefer evaporated cane juice.   I saw someone selling whole sugar canes at the Farmers Market --any idea how to extrapolate the sugar from that?  Might be a fun Christmas gift.

[SuBu]

This sounds like a move in the right direction.  It will be interesting to see if it will change the FDA categorizing to include Stevia as a sweetener.  I would feel better about diabetics and hypoglycemics consuming occasional sodas, because of the benefits.  According to Jacqueline Reid, who posted "Health Benfits of Stevia, and other articles that I've previously read, it has a regulating effect on the pancreas, and helps stabilize blood sugar levels.  It has also been known to lower elevated blood pressure, and acts as a general tonic which increases energy levels and mental acuity.  Since it is 250-300x sweeter than sugar, if only  a pinch is used, it should not have any bitter taste.  Here's hoping for good news !