Truvia/Stevia safety research!
July 19, 2008
Sherry Weiss Poall of the RF Binder agency, which does public relations for Cargill, was kind enough to send me the collection of research studies the company is using to demonstrate the safety of Truvia/Stevia. The studies just came out in a supplement to Food and Chemical Toxicology, July 2008. Journal supplements typically are paid for by the research sponsor, in this case, Cargill. The authors of the dozen or so papers are scientists at Cargill and Coca-Cola or “independent” scientists who were paid for their work by Cargill “for consulting services and manuscript preparation.” The papers cover the chemistry and metabolism of stevia, its effects on human blood pressure and diabetes (none reported), and its effects on rats (minimal problems and only at absurdly high doses). Their entirely predictable conclusion: Truvia/Stevia is safe.
Stevia is a plant extract. It isn’t poison ivy, it’s been around for awhile, and it ought to be safe. But sponsored research always raises questions about the objectivity of the science, especially when the papers read like press releases, which these do. I can’t wait to see what the FDA makes of all this. In the meantime, it’s on the market as an unapproved product.
living in belgium, europe i am very interested to be updated on stevia which apparently is already commonly used in the U.SA. but not yet in europe
Comment by horemans marcel — July 20, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
Marion,
Nice peice on Truvia. Would you like to try Zevia. It is a a natual alternative to diet sodas that uses stevia. No artificial sweeteners like aspartame or Splenda. 0 calories, carbs and 0 on glycemic index.
Let me know and I will send samples for your review.
-Ian
Comment by ian eiaenberg — July 29, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
I use stevia quite often, under the brand name Only Sweet. Nothing bad has happened to me.
Comment by Corey — August 11, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
I’ve been using stevia for years now. I use it in my tea with additional honey. The honey gives it a deeper sweetness but the added stevia boosts the sweetness level. I have found that stevia is a thiner sweetness compared to sugar or honeys fuller sweet taste. You have to work with it to know what I mean. It works (tastes) better in stronger flavors. I use it to make sugar free ice cream and have found chocolate tastes better than vanilla when using stevia because chocolate is a stronger flavor than vanilla. I am looking forward to stevia coming out in sodas. I have just recently bought Zevia sodas and I didn’t care for their taste unfortunately. So I’m hoping Pepsi Co. or Cocoa Cola will do a much better job using stevia.
Comment by carri — August 26, 2008 @ 3:24 am