With so many people concerned about added sugar and calories, stevia offers the perfect solution for a wide range of consumers: adults seeking to manage weight, parents who want to give their children less sugar, diabetics as well as anyone who is concerned about controlling calories.
Here are some resources, particularly for dietitians, helping to explore the world of stevia.
Brochure: A plant based sweetener, stevia
Stay tuned for more.
The goal of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) is to provide nutrition guidance that can improve the health of Americans by helping people choose healthy and enjoyable foods and beverages. According to the 2020-2025 DGAs, a healthy diet emphasizes:
The 2020-2025 DGAs also include recommendations related to increased fiber intake, as well as the use of low-calorie sweeteners to manage weight in adult populations. Replacing added sugars with low- and no-calorie sweeteners may reduce calorie intake in the short-term and aid in weight management.
Americans are making efforts to manage their weight through lifestyle changes. The Harris Poll conducted an online consumer survey for the Calorie Control Council of over 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older to learn what changes in lifestyle people have made to achieve their weight loss goals. The survey found that the top five changes made were: 57% consume more water, 55% exercise and be more active, 47% eat smaller portions, 28% use reduced-sugar or sugar free products and 27% said they would weigh themselves more often.
The American’s polled also state having a more positive attitude toward food, health, and dieting. According to a 2021 International Foot Information Council (IFIC) Survey on Food and Health more people would rather count calories than follow trendy diets. Similarly, while the top motivator for dieting remains losing weight, fewer people are focused on this reason than prior years. The number of people dieting to improve physical appearance also dropped.
Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight | Healthy Weight, Nutrition, and Physical Activity | CDC
2021 Food & Health Survey: Pandemic Food Habits Start to (globenewswire.com)
The most important thing is to focus on the overall quality of your diet, rather than a single nutrient or food. Try to include more nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, and lean proteins. Limit foods that offer lots of calories but little nutritional value. The USDA, along with other respected organizations, provide consumers with tools and eating patterns that may help them to achieve the goals set forth in the DGAs.
USDA’s MyPlate can help you identify what and how much to eat from the different food groups while staying within your recommended calorie allowance.
“Mediterranean diet” is a generic term based on the traditional eating habits in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. There are at least 16 countries that border the Mediterranean, and so there is not one standard diet from this region. Eating styles from among these countries and even among regions within each country because of differences in culture, ethnic background, religion, economy, geography, and agricultural production. However, there are some common factors:
Plant-based or plant-forward eating patterns focus on foods primarily from plants. This includes not only fruits and vegetables, but also nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. It doesn’t mean that you are vegetarian or vegan and never eat meat or dairy. Rather, you are proportionately choosing more of your foods from plant sources.
While there is no specific “diabetes diet,” the American Diabetes Association (ADA) does provide guidelines for creating a healthy meal that can help patients with managing their diabetes. Many different eating patterns can help you manage your diabetes – from Mediterranean to low-carbohydrate, to vegetarian. Whatever you choose, be sure to include lots of non-starchy vegetables, minimize added sugar and refine grains and choose whole, minimally processed foods. Keep in mind that a diabetic meal plan can fit into many different dietary patterns. There is also no one-size-fits-all. Talk to your doctor and get a referral o a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) who can help you figure out what eating plan makes the most sense for you and your treatment goals. Just because you follow a diabetic meal plan does not mean you need to give up all the foods you love.
For people who miss having sweet desserts and drinks, stevia sweeteners can provide an alternative to sugar. A natural, zero-calorie sweetener, stevia can offer sweetness without the excess sugar and calories. Furthermore, stevia is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, which means you only need a little to create the same level of sweetness.
Last but not least – physical activity. Strive to get up and get moving! Regular activity is important for good overall health.
What is the Mediterranean Diet? | American Heart Association
The right plant-based diet for you – Harvard Health
Recipes & Nutrition | ADA (diabetes.org)
Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity – Mayo Clinic
Stevia is a plant of the Asteraceae (sunflower) family. The leaves have been used as a sweetener in South America for hundreds of years. Extracts from the stevia leaf have been available as food additives (sweeteners) and/or dietary supplements in many countries around the world.
Stevia extracts were originally made by water extraction and further refining of the sweet components of the stevia leaf. However, today there are several methods for producing stevia ingredients. Please visit our How Stevia is Made section for more information.
Yes, stevia extracts (the short name for steviol glycosides) are the sweet compounds found in the leaves of the stevia plant, which is a small herb native to South America.
Stevia extracts are removed from the leaves of the stevia plant by traditional extraction methods which do not alter the composition of the plant’s sweet compounds. The extraction process involves steeping the dried leaves of the stevia plant in water, filtering and separating the liquid from the leaves and stems, and further purifying the remaining plant extract with either water or food grade alcohol. Stevia extracts are exactly the same compound outside the leaf as they are found in the leaf. Please visit our How Stevia is Made section for more information on all stevia production technologies.
The definition and labeling requirements for natural vary country by country. In some markets, there are very precise and qualified requirements around the term natural. For instance, in the European Union, even products such as milk are not allowed to carry a natural claim.
Regardless of the ability to use the term “natural” for labeling or marketing purposes, research conducted by members of the International Stevia Council clearly demonstrate both a global demand for calorie-free sweetness from a plant source as well as a full understanding that an extraction process is necessary to take place in order to release the sweetness of the stevia plant.
The involvement of an extraction process does not impact consumer perception or acceptance of stevia extracts as natural nor do limitations on the term affect successful commercial product launches with stevia sweeteners.
The safety of stevia extracts has been extensively reviewed and scientifically proven by numerous international organizations, such as the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Studies of stevia extracts clearly support the safety of these ingredients.
Further, clinical studies show that stevia extracts meeting purity criteria established by JECFA have no effect on either blood pressure or blood glucose response, indicating that stevia extracts are safe for use by persons with diabetes.
Over the last 13 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated it has no questions regarding the conclusion of expert panels that Rebaudioside A is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for use as a general purpose sweetener. To date, the FDA has stated that it has no questions in response to a number of separate stevia extract GRAS notifications.
There are no known side effects or allergies from the use of stevia extracts in foods and beverages.
Stevia extracts have excellent solubility in a wide range of applications.
Stevia extracts are extremely heat, photo and pH stable under a wide range of processing conditions and have exhibited excellent shelf stability.
Research has shown that stevia extracts do not affect blood glucose levels or interfere with insulin. With effectively zero calories, stevia extracts offer people with diabetes greater variety and flexibility in budgeting total calorie intake and assisting with weight management. Stevia extracts do not have an effect on GI, at the levels of use.
Stevia extracts can be used in a wide variety of food and beverage applications. Individual usages and use levels may vary depending on the country. They act synergistically when used in combination with other sweeteners.
Stevia extracts can be from 50 – 450 times sweeter than sugar, depending on the application and amount and/or extract used. A simple way to measure the sweetness would be a sensory comparison with the sweetness of sugar in a water solution.
Each year, there are thousands of new product launches with stevia ingredients globally across a wide array of food and beverage categories.
Stevia extracts contribute effectively zero calories.
Stevia plants are not genetically modified. Development of new plant varieties takes place by selective breeding and not genetic modification.
The term stevia can refer to a preparation (powder or liquid) of dried stevia leaves or the stevia plants themselves.
Stevia extracts refer to selected molecules used as stevia sweeteners and flavor modifiers extracted from the stevia plant.
Steviol glycosides are the molecules found within the stevia plant.
Rebaudioside A (as well as other Rebaudioside ingredients such as Reb D and Reb M) are examples of specific steviol glycosides found naturally within the stevia plant.
Steviol glycosides are the sweet compounds of the leaves of the stevia plant. Each one is made up of a backbone unit of steviol, with differing numbers/configurations of sugar units attached, specific to that steviol glycoside. In order to address the overall safety of steviol glycosides, many regulatory agencies have created maximum use limits, expressed in steviol equivalents. These limits are then adjusted upward, using a specific steviol equivalent factor, to reflect the molecular weight of the steviol glycoside molecule(s) present (see the table below).
This table compares the sweetness obtained from 4mg of steviol equivalents/kg body weight to the sweetness obtained from sugar.
The conversion is based on this formula:
SG((Conv1 × %SG1) + (Conv2 × %SG2) + …. + (Conv × %SGn)) = x mg steviol equivalents
SG: the amount of Stevia leaf extract in the product, Conv: the relevant conversion factor for each steviol glycoside and %SG : the percentage content of the relevant steviol glycoside in a particular stevia leaf extract.
| Steviol Glycoside | Molecular Weight | Conversion factor |
| Steviol | 318.45 | 1.00 |
| Stevioside | 804.38 | 0.40 |
| Rebaudioside A | 966.43 | 0.33 |
| Rebaudioside B | 804.38 | 0.40 |
| Rebaudioside C | 950.44 | 0.34 |
| Rebaudioside D | 1128.48 | 0.29 |
| Rebaudioside E | 967 | 0.33 |
| Rebaudioside F | 936.42 | 0.34 |
| Rebaudioside M | 1291.3 | .25 |
| Dulcoside A | 788.38 | 0.40 |
| Rubusoside | 642.33 | 0.50 |
| Steviolbioside | 642.33 | 0.50 |
In the EU(1) and other geographies, the factors to convert steviol glycosides to steviol equivalents are given in the specific regulations and are rounded. They are not the exact factors as would be derived from fully accurate molecular weights. The regulation factors should be used for all calculations.
As an example of how the factors work, in the case of pure, dry rebaudioside A, 80 mg/l steviol equivalents means (80 * 3.03) = 242.4 mg/l reb A. The legal limit on reb A in EU beverages (in the absence of any other steviol glycoside) is thus 242 mg/l.
(1) EU regulation 231/2012, laying down specifications for food additives listed in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, OJ 22/3/2012 L83:1-217
In order for stevia extracts to be used in food, stevia extracts must strictly adhere to established specifications of identification and purity established by national and global food safety authorities. These specifications clearly indicate which food grade alcohols have been included in safety evaluations and are accepted for use in the extraction of steviol glycosides.
Furthermore, the CODEX General Standard for Food Additives requires that the established specification of identification and purity should be followed, and that all food additives comply with good manufacturing practices (GMPs). Members of the
International Stevia Council fully support and comply with these laws and standards.
The members of the International Stevia Council are committed to the highest standards for the international stevia industry. All members of the International Stevia Council, as a condition of membership in the organization, have committed to producing stevia extracts which meet the specifications established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) which provide for the use of water and alcohol extraction in the production of steviol glycosides. The International Stevia Council has also established a leading-edge Proficiency Testing Program for steviol glycosides which helps stevia producers and the food industry continually improve methods of analysis for stevia extracts. This program provides food and beverage manufacturers an important tool in their due diligence efforts in ensuring that they are procuring stevia extracts that meet the legal requirements for use in food.
