Background

• Extracts of leaves from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni have been used for many years in traditional treatment of diabetes in South America. Paraguay's rural and indigenous populations have used Stevia rebaudiana for the control of fertility.
• Stevia rebaudiana standardized extracts are used as natural sweeteners or dietary supplements in different countries for their content of stevioside or rebaudioside A. These compounds possess up to 250 times the sweetness intensity of sucrose, and do not have any calories. Stevioside, a natural plant glycoside isolated from the plant Stevia rebaudiana, has been commercialized as a non-caloric sweetener in Japan for more than 20 years.
• Stevia is not generally recognized as safe (GRAS) nor approved as food additives by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stevia may be imported only if "explicitly labeled as a dietary supplement or for use as a dietary ingredient in a dietary supplement." Although stevia may be marketed as a dietary supplement or an ingredient of a dietary supplement under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), products that are labeled as using stevia plant parts or extracts as flavoring agents, sweeteners, or for other food additive purposes are deemed as "unsafe." Regulatory agencies in Canada and Europe also have not approved use of stevia as a food additive. However, rebaudioside A (reb-A) is a steviol glycoside that is extracted from stevia and obtained FDA GRAS status as of December 2008.

References

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