Stevia
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Text Box: First marketed in the United States as a supplement, Stevia has been touted as a "natural" sweetener.  Historically stevia leaves were used to sweeten the mate drink in Paraguay.  Two chemicals purified from the stevia plant, stevioside and rebaudioside A, have been used as non-nutritive sweeteners.  Stevioside has been approved for use in Japan and elsewhere for many years.  Rebaudioside A (reb A) recently received GRAS status in the United States.  Both stevioside and reb A are metabolized to steviol after ingestion and therefore are presumed to have similar effects. Stevia-derived sweeteners are fast moving into the mainstream.  Cargill has teamed with Coca-Cola to bring us Truvia. Whole Earth Sweetener Company has teamed with Pepsico to bring us PureVia, which sweetens SoBe calorie -free beverages.  These products contain the sweetener reb A.   Various other companies continue to market stevia leaves and extracts as supplements. There was some concern about reproductive toxicity of stevia extracts, however repeated studies have not validated the findings of the original paper.  It is my understanding that pure or dried stevia leaves have not been given GRAS or FDA approval due to a lack of research on the intact plant.  Most of the research has been conducted on stevioside, reb A, or steviol.