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

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

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."

(Dave Dumanis) wrote in message om...
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



Any patents on saccharin expired a long time ago. There are no
patents on 99.9% of the food products sold, natural or not, and
companies seem to have no problem making profits on them.