Swedish Government Supports Environmentally Driven Stevia Project in The Baltic Region

04 Feb 2014 --- Bayn Europe and Barentz launch a Stevia project aimed at developing the use of Stevia dietary fiber blends as substitute for chemical sweeteners in the Baltic region. The project is supported by the Swedish Government due to its positive effects on the environment and public health in a prioritized region.

Blends with Stevia, a non-chemical sweetener, and insoluble dietary fibers, will be used in three high sugar demonstration products – jam, ketchup and chocolate powder – instead of the chemical sweeteners normally used to make calorie-reduced products. The dietary fibers are derived from a natural source in the form of recycled residue from manufacturers of apple juice and oat based products.

The project will demonstrate an example of the positive effects stevia and dietary fiber have on public health issues regarding diabetes and obesity, with up to 90 % reduction of calorie levels and remarkable improvement of digestion. Chemical sweeteners are not biodegradable and harmful for both the body and the environment.

Using natural recycled dietary fibers also has a positive effect on the production costs, which can be an issue in stevia applications. Fibers add both bulk and texture and the costs of adding other bulking agents are reduced.

The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth supports the Stevia project, in line with the Swedish Government’s focus on environmental and public health improvement in the Baltic region.

The project will run until December 2014 in three phases. Phase 1 includes research, production and distribution of the three demonstration products in the target region. Phase 2 will focus on collecting feedback from the end consumer. During phase 3 the project results will be processed and the products further developed and distributed wider in the region.