One thing we're researching here at Desert Island Foods™.com is Stevia, to use in some new products in development.
Stevia is controversial stuff, and a real political hotspot. Let's start here:
From the first time he tasted a Stevia leaf, Jim May was impressed with its sweetness, which is said to be at least 30 times as sweet as sugar. He first thought he was being offered an illicit drug in 1982 when a man who had just returned from a stint with the Peace Corps in Paraguay showed him a cellophane bag with leaves in it.He finally tasted a leaf and discovered that the longer it stayed in his mouth, the sweeter it became. May was so impressed with the Stevia herb that he invested his life savings to order more leaves and began selling Stevia-sweetened herb teas out of his garage in Phoenix.
Read the article. More on the FDA controversy can be found at the Stevia.net site in the FDA section. Interesting stuff, and a classic example of established industries fighting innovation tooth and nail.
A marketable ingredient or a potential albatross around my neck? Would you avoid products that contained Stevia or seek them out?
I think, run away in horror would be more like it. I don't want to eat a stevia.
Biggles
I'm getting some samples. They've been using this stuff in Japan way longer than all the space-age polymer sweeteners have been used here. It's pure politics, sadly.
I love stevia and have been a big fan of the sweetleaf stevia for many years now. The leaves have amazing healing properties and I am growing my own plants. I so agree about the artificial chemical sweeteners I will not go near anything like that, I prefer the all natural life and love healing with herbs!
I agree, stevia is really a great product. The thing about the FDA issue is simply this: it takes a lot of money to get a product cleared as a food additive, and no company wants to invest that type of money on an herb that they will have no exclusive rights to sell. There are rumors that USAID, or the Inter-American Development Bank may invest the necessary funds (relatively small for organizations with budgets like these). The idea is that stevia could become a successful export crop to help stimulate the economies in regions where these groups work. For more on stevia, check out this non-commercial Web site I created earlier this year: SteviaInfo.com. It's got loads of recipes, articles, research studies and more...I hope you find it a useful resource.
WOW...that steviainfo site is great:) Thanks for posting the link. I loved the recipes, I already made the yummy salad dressing and the lemon creme cookies, I used the sweetleaf stevia that I found at my local super-walmart for a bargain price, it tasted great.... soooo sweet! I really enjoyed reading all the scientific studies on the health benefits of using stevia, it's a shame more people are not aware of this wonderful herb, well thanks for sharing!
I use Stevia in everything because it's all natural and so much better for you. I've tried a few brands now but my favorite is probably the SweetLeaf Sweetener because it has no calories, no carbs and no glycemic index - ideal for pretty much anyone. I think this brand is the most versatile too because they have a wide variety of products. For anyone who is skeptical, I would try SweetLeaf first because it is better than the rest.
I put it in hot drinks, cold drinks, on my cereal, when I cook or bake and in smoothies and blended drinks. (When I use it in recipes instead of sugar I be sure to add a filler like mashed bananas or yogurt to keep the amount of ingredients the same - if the recipe calls for one cup of sugar, I put in the equivalent amount of SweetLeaf and then one cup of the filler)
Also, if anyone wants anymore info I found these videos while on YouTube the other day:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6wwMAe_Hi0k
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5ILDC5Cx_o
I cut out all artificial sweeteners out of my diet about a year ago and went back to regular sugar. But, I started to gain weight again and was looking for another alternative. My nutritionist friend told me about Sweetleaf. At first, I was skeptical, but after trying it for several months, I must say I love it! It is so sweet! I use my Sweetleaf in hot drinks, cold drinks, cereal, brings out the delicious flavors in fruits, can be used in cooking and baking, makes great-tasting desserts and is incredible in smoothies and blended drinks.
I use SweetLeaf and I love it! It is the only tuly all-natural stevia brand because they extract from the stevia leaf using only pure water during the entire process, while others use chemicals, solvents, and alcohols during extraction, which can result in the weird aftertaste. Now some are adding masking agents to cover up that taste, making them even more less natural.
FUN FACT:
SweetLeaf was also the first stevia brand to receive GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status as a sweetener in March 2008 from th FDA, as much as 9 months before other stevia brands.