Stevia

[Desertthorn]

Cleo's latest article in the Examiner talks about that new Stevia product Purevia. Low Carb Examiner
I think Megs has already said that it looks a bit suspicious as it has lots of stuff that isn't stevia. So I emailed them to ask how much stevia their product actually has, it looks like the first ingredient listed is a sugar alcohol. If they answer me Ill let you know.

[Desertthorn]

Interesting, nothing yet from those folks

[clogger]

I'll be interested in hearing what you find out...

[Miss Phode]

I've been suspicious of both Purvia and Truvia. Does anyone remember Scott123? If I remember correctly, he was a chemist and he was very educated about artificial sweeteners. I wish I could pick his brain about this. I know that the first ingredient in purvia is erythritol, and that' it's a sugar alcohol, but that's all I really know about it. I will be anxious to hear if you ever get a response. I keep hearing people refer to these two products as "stevia", and I have to bite my tongue.

[Lyssie]

Um. So I was curious after all of these came out. Honestly, I do not understand why anybody would try this over liquid stevia and/or splenda? It doesn't taste any better and it's white powder, which means it still has a carb count to it.

[Aways2Go]

Maybe choosing these other items because they have been tinkered with and as such, probably able to get a patent, and thus worth spending money on by a food company for safety research, etc, so they can get it labeled as a FOOD - and is now mixed in with the FOOD products in the regular grocery aisle.

Stevia, on the other hand, which is just all plain and simple (and TASTES FINE JUST LIKE IT IS without all the unnecessary chemical tinkering and additives) and is a natural plant product, sits by itself all lonely over in the "supplements" aisle (if it is there at all) because apparently no company will spend the money to conduct research to prove its safety to the FDA as a food item (or advertise it) - thus, it can only be sold as a supplement. I imagine it cannot be patented as a one ingredient item, just like you can't patent other simple foods like cabbage or ground beef, so no company can corner the market on it as is - so none will pony up the money to do safety studies on it. (I have no concerns about it's safety, personally, and have used it for years - both powder form, powder form with extra fiber added, and liquid with and without flavorings)

I haven't researched all the facts about this, but I have read some about it in the past and I think this might be pretty close to what is going on with stevia without going and re-researching it. Most folks I know would be more inclined to pick up a sweetener in the food aisle before going out of their way (or forgetting) to try to locate it on a shelf mixed in with vitamins.

A sad thing to me when contrived preparations like aspartame and saccharin can be sold as a food product but plain ol' stevia can't. I hope this gets fixed eventually.

[Aways2Go]

PS - stevia is an easy plant to grow if you run across it in the garden section of your nearby store (I have seen several places selling small starter plants). I have not read up on how you would use it (dry the leaves and crush them would be my guess), but I have chewed a raw leaf picked off a mature plant and indeed it was quite sweet just like it was, straight off the plant.