Safety of Stevia Established – Cargill, Coke

Rebiana is the first consistent, high-purity sweetener composed of rebaudioside A, the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf. Beginning in 2004, Cargill commissioned a rigorous safety evaluation program for rebiana in consultation with leading scientists.

16/05/08 In response to strong consumer demand for a natural, zero-calorie way to sweeten foods and beverages, Cargill today introduced TRUVIA brand natural sweetener, a great-tasting, zero-calorie sweetener made from rebiana, the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf. TRUVIA natural sweetener will provide consumers with a new, natural way to reduce calories in their diet while still enjoying sweet-tasting foods and beverages.

“TRUVIA natural sweetener is a breakthrough new ingredient. This is a significant milestone for Cargill's emerging zero calorie sweetener business with application across food, beverage and tabletop products. We have spent more than two years validating the consumer demand for this new sweetener. Soon consumers will recognize TRUVIA for quality and great taste, delivering the first natural, zero calorie sweetness people have been asking for,” said Marcelo Montero, president, Cargill Health & Nutrition.

The move comes as research published electronically in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology clearly establishes the safety of rebiana (common or usual name for high-purity Rebaudioside A from stevia) for general use to sweeten foods and beverages, according to experts at Cargill and The Coca-Cola Company.

Rebiana is the first consistent, high-purity sweetener composed of rebaudioside A, the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf. Beginning in 2004, Cargill commissioned a rigorous safety evaluation program for rebiana in consultation with leading scientists.

Cargill, in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, has developed rebiana as a natural, zero-calorie ingredient which will be marketed by Cargill under the brand name TRUVIA.

"These newly published data complement the body of existing scientific research on steviol glycosides, the sweet components of the stevia leaf," said Leslie Curry, regulatory and scientific affairs director, Cargill Food and Ingredient Systems. "The rebiana research program affirmed positive safety data from earlier studies on purified steviol glycosides and addressed unresolved questions resulting from studies with crude stevia extracts."

“TRUVIA natural sweetener was developed to meet the strong consumer demand for a natural, zero calorie way to sweeten foods and beverages. Rebiana provides a new great tasting alternative that meets that demand,” said Zanna McFerson, business director for Cargill Health and Nutrition. “The results of this research program pave the way to bring this long sought after sweetener to U.S. consumers.”

Although stevia today is sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement, rebiana will be the first available sweetener for foods and beverages that has been purified from the stevia plant. Unlike many existing stevia products, which generally contain crude extracts of the plant, rebiana is a fully-characterized product that is consistent in quality and contains only the best-tasting components of the stevia leaf.

“We are pleased that these studies have proved definitively that rebiana is safe,” said Dr. Rhona Applebaum, vice president and chief scientific and regulatory officer of The Coca-Cola Company.

The rebiana safety evaluation program included metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies, general and multi-generational safety studies, intake studies and human studies. Cargill sponsored the studies to affirm earlier safety findings for purified steviol glycosides, and to confirm that rebiana is broken down by the body in the same way as stevioside, which has been studied extensively. Rebaudioside A – the main component of rebiana – is nearly identical in chemical structure to stevioside.

In safety studies, daily consumption of rebiana equivalent to a 150-lb person drinking between 1,000 and 2,000 8-ounce servings of rebiana-sweetened beverage had no negative effects on the general health, reproduction, growth or development of adults or their offspring.

In clinical studies, daily consumption of 1,000 mg rebiana – equivalent to consuming 29 packets of sweetener or drinking approximately eight 8-ounce servings of a rebiana-sweetened beverage every day for 4 or 16 weeks – had no effect on blood pressure in healthy subjects with normal or low-normal blood pressure; or on blood sugar control in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

The stevia plant has been grown, harvested and used in South America to sweeten foods and beverages for more than 200 years. The plant was discovered by the Guarani natives of Paraguay who used its leaves to sweeten drinks. In 1931, two French food-researchers isolated the sweet components of the stevia leaf.

Consumers in Japan have been using stevia commercially for more than three decades, and today, stevia represents 40 percent of the country’s low- or zero-calorie sweetener market.

Because rebiana begins with a leaf, supply is contingent upon the strength of the stevia crop. Over many years, Cargill has built a strong and consistent stevia supply chain in anticipation of launching TRUVIA™ natural sweetener, and has a dedicated staff on the ground and partner companies in key regions around the world supervising production and ensuring good stewardship of land and water. Today, one stevia plant yields enough rebiana for 30 six-ounce cups of coffee.