Sweetness, a taste that creates a sense of pleasure, fills our lives. But the cruel reality is that sugar represents both a sweet and a burden, especially for obese people and people with diabetes, who need to strictly control their sugar intake. In response to the market demand, sugar substitutes have emerged, which largely alleviate our concerns about the health problems caused by sugar. However, there is a wide variety of sugar substitutes available in the market, so how to choose? One such natural sweetener, stevia, is worth knowing about.
Stevia is a food additive derived from the extracted and refined leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, also known as steviol glycosides (glycosides). It is more than 200 times sweeter than white sugar and has only 1/300th of the calories of sucrose.
Stevia has the characteristics of low calorie, high sweetness, good taste quality, high temperature resistance, and good stability. In addition, it has the properties of heat resistance and stability, so when added to food, it is not easily denatured and deteriorated, and it does not require strict acidity or alkalinity and has a long shelf life. In addition, the indigestibility of stevia makes it not cause an increase in blood sugar concentration after intake, not to mention promoting the rise of insulin concentration in blood, which is suitable for diabetic patients.
Stevia is derived from the leaf extract of Stevia rebaudiana, a small perennial shrub that contains no sugar and no calories, and is known as the "world's third source of sugar. According to the data, the local Guarani people in South America have been using stevia as a medicinal herb or sugar substitute to sweeten their beverages for a hundred years, and this was first recorded by the Swiss Paraguayan botanist Moises Santiago Bertoni (lived in Paraguay from 1887 to 1929). Currently, stevia is grown as a sustainable cash crop on all five continents.
● In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan started using stevia as a sweetener for food and beverages, and then Korea, China, Malaysia, Latin America and other countries and regions gradually started using it as a sweetener.
● In 2008, high-purity steviol glycosides and Reb A were approved by GRAS (General Safety Approval) in the United States.
●In 2008, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand approved the use of steviol glycosides, and expanded its scope in 2010 and 2017, respectively, and now the steviol glycoside ingredients that can be used have been approved to expand to all glycosides extracted from stevia.
● In 2010, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) designated nine steviol glycosides (≥95% purity) for use in food and beverages and established an ADI of 0-4 mg/kg/day of steviol equivalent (high-purity stevia with >95% steviol glycoside content).
● In 2011, CODEX, the international Codex Alimentarius Commission, adopted steviol glycosides as a food additive and published a standard for food use; the European Food Safety Authority reviewed its safety and approved steviol glycosides for use as a sweetener in the EU region.
● In 2016, Canada issued an announcement that a variety of steviol glycosides were approved for use as sweeteners in food; the Food Council of Health Canada conducted a detailed assessment of their safety and found no safety risks, and approved all steviol glycosides derived from stevia for use as sweeteners in a range of foods in 2017.
● In 2017, new regulations for stevia have been introduced by organizations around the world, including JECFA's approval of specifications for all steviol glycosides from the stevia plant, including all mixtures of steviol glycosides; and China's National Health and Family Planning Commission's approval to expand the use of steviol glycosides.
● A brief review of the history of steviol glycosides "being named" shows that although the journey has been bumpy, it is also something to be proud of.
