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#1
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What's this about Stevia being illegal?
Unlike Splenda (and Nutrasweet and Saccharin), Stevia is not
patentable, being a natural plant extract. Therefore it is not profitable. Hence, the huge food conglomerates pulling the puppet strings on the FDA don't like Stevia. And neither does the FDA. So far, Stevia isn't illegal. emkay wrote in message . .. On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:23:19 -0600, "Pat" wrote: But, when I went by the sweetener aisle, I saw lots of Stevia. It seems to me that a few weeks ago, people were posting that Stevia is illegal or something. Evidently not. They had it in several different forms, even. Maybe it is legal in Texas but not in other states? Those of you who think it is illegal, please post why you think this. Puzzled in TX Pat I think that the only thing illegal about it is to describe as a sweetener or sugar substitute on the packaging. I'm pretty sure they're only allowed to list it as a "food supplement" or something similar. Em I'll check that out the next time I'm in the store. They had powdered, liquid, and what looked like little tablets, even. I would be surprised if they listed the liquid, especially, as a food supplement. Pat in TX I just looked at a couple of random labels of the liquid ones, and they really do just call themselves "herbal dietary supplements". (The sites that are selling them often describe them as sweeteners, but I think the FDA gets cranky if that word is actually on the bottle label if it's being sold in the US.) Here's a couple of examples with readable labels: http://www.lef.org/newshop/items/ite...ogle&key=00482 http://store.yahoo.com/jayrobb/stevnatsweet.html Em |
#2
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What's this about Stevia being illegal?
Stevia is not illegal.
But the FDA has banned it from use in food products AND it's use as an artificial sweetener. So has Canada and the European Union. Since supplements are not regulated by the FDA, it can be sold as a nutritional supplement. Read more about it he http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/stevia.html Jennifer Pat wrote: I went to the local health food store the other day and bought some raw almonds and flax seeds in bulk. I discovered raw almonds have an almost sweet flavor. I couldn't find any low carb milk or tortillas. I did get a box of low carb cereal to try (my idea is to have an Atkins shake over the cereal). But, when I went by the sweetener aisle, I saw lots of Stevia. It seems to me that a few weeks ago, people were posting that Stevia is illegal or something. Evidently not. They had it in several different forms, even. Maybe it is legal in Texas but not in other states? Those of you who think it is illegal, please post why you think this. Puzzled in TX Pat |
#3
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What's this about Stevia being illegal?
Pat wrote:
But, when I went by the sweetener aisle, I saw lots of Stevia. It seems to me that a few weeks ago, people were posting that Stevia is illegal or something. Evidently not. They had it in several different forms, even. Maybe it is legal in Texas but not in other states? Those of you who think it is illegal, please post why you think this. It is legal to be sold as a "supplement." It's not legal to be sold as a "sweetener". That's all. Stevia varies widely in strength, refinement and aftertaste from brand to brand. I recommend NOW brand "potent white extract" stevia extract powder, as inexpensive, well-refined, little to no aftertaste. I use it with other sweeteners, because stevia has more of a sweet aftertaste than a sweet taste. But the powder extract is carb-free. I find an amount of this brand, about the size of a dried split pea is roughly equivalent to a packet of sweetener. Avoid any green/brown stevia powders or liquids, they are less refined and taste terrible. I never tried any stevia packets, because IMO, the point of adding some stevia is to reduce sweetener filler carbs, and the packets have filler carbs. -- jamie ) "There's a seeker born every minute." |
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