PERSPECTIVE UKNORTH
People and their profiles: dukes, archbishops, actors, writers, monks, oddbods, the garish, the gregarious - here they are in single file, chosen by chance, by inclination, or by necessity ... and all reflecting, one hopes, the essential, but indefinable, spark that makes one human being interesting to many. Geoffrey Mather
I was idly looking around recipes for using ginger as a hot drink when I came across stevia. It is a sweetener claimed to have remarkable qualities. I had never heard of it. But the more I read about it, the more interested I became. On a website, under the title, The Practical Hippie, someone with what I assumed to be far more knowledge than me had written this:
It has neither calories nor carbohydrates, is suitable for diabetics, and doesn't cause tooth decay. Information about something that can deliver all of that makes enough of a story in itself, but a little research into the history of stevia uncovered quite a bit of intrigue that I wasn't aware of when I first chose this topic. Businesses have been raided, books destroyed, and laws created making it illegal to tell consumers that a product is sweetened with stevia. What is this herb and why don't the powers that be want you to know about it?
Stevia rebaudiana t has been used for centuries by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay both as a sweetener and as medicine. It was "discovered" by Dr. Moises Santiago Bertoni, the director of the College of Agriculture in Asuncion, who was exploring the jungles of Paraguay.
In 1908 the first stevia crop was harvested, and plantations began to spring up. In a memo written in the 1920s, American Trade Commissioner George S. Brady said he was "desirous of seeing it placed before any American companies liable to be interested, as it is very probable that it will be of great commercial importance." If its "commercial importance" was so great, why did stevia never catch on? A 1913 memo from the official public scientific laboratory in Hamburg, Germany may hold a clue where it states, "specimens received are of the well-known plant which alarmed sugar producers some years ago."
In 1960s Japan, there was a popular movement against adding chemicals such as artificial sweeteners to food. Manufacturers there were on the lookout for a natural alternative to sugar, and stevia was introduced to the Japanese market in 1970. It is currently used in many products there (including cola, desserts, and gum) and makes up 40% of the Japanese sweetener market.
Stevia is about 300 times sweeter than sugar in its natural state, and much more so when processed. Its medicinal uses include regulating blood sugar, preventing hypertension, treatment of skin disorders, and prevention of tooth decay. Other studies show that it is a natural antibacterial and antiviral agent. it is calorie and carbohydrate free. Stevia is a great sweetener choice for diabetics, those watching their weight, and anyone interested in maintaining their health. So why haven't most people heard of it?
Why did the (US) government treat stevia like a controlled substance? An interesting contrast: while no one in Japan has complained about any stevia related health problems for the past thirty years, over 75% of food additive related complaints in the US are about Aspartame, which is supposedly safe.
In 1995 the FDA reversed their decision to ban stevia, but only halfway. Stevia can now be sold as a "nutritional supplement" but not as a sweetener in the United States.
True or not, I know not. Meanwhile (and remember this was written some considerable time ago) "you can not buy it in Britain or Europe principally, I believe, because 'not enough is known about it.' That seems remarkable when the sweetener has been around for so long. Here are the views of the Food Standards Agency all of 10 years ago:
Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes
Evaluation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni as a novel food
Dr F Campoli
DGIII/E/i
Rue de la Loi
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium19 October 1998
Dear Mr Campoli
Evaluation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni as a novel food
The UK Competent Authority has examined the opinion from the Belgian CA on this application and agrees with the conclusion they reached, that the data provided are inadequate to support approval of this material as a novel food. We share their concerns regarding this application and note particularly the lack of information on the estimates of likely intake of the material;
ii) the specification for the material, which is inadequate, particularly in terms of the level of stevioside. We would normally expect to see the results of analyses of at least three batches of material to demonstrate that the material to be sold is of a consistent composition;
iii) the extent to which the active component stevioside is metabolised by human gut bacteria and the possible toxicological consequences of such metabolism.
We also note that the active component stevioside has been evaluated previously by both the EC Scientific Committee for Food and also by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (earlier this year) and that both have concluded that the toxicological data available were inadequate.
After our expert advisory committee had examined the opinion of the Belgian CA, we received the additional information contained in a revised application from Prof Dr J M C Geuns, that was circulated with the papers for the Standing Committee meeting on 28/29 October. We assume that submission of these additional data will now result in all the information being referred to the Scientific Committee for Food, as laid down in the provisisons of the Novel Food Regulation. However we would make the following points about the additional information provided:
i) the specification and analytical data are still not adequate to provide reassurance that this is a consistent product;
ii) many of the studies quoted on page 12 of the revised document are conducted on "Stevia extract" but the composition of this extract is not described;
iii) the subacute and chronic toxicity studies are conducted on stevioside rather than the dried plant material and there is still a lack of evidence on the extent to which stevioside present in the dried plant material might be metabolised by human gut flora and the toxicological consequences of this in terms of the formation of steviol.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss this application at the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs meeting on 29 October.
Yours sincerely
Mrs S J Hattersley
UK Competant Authority (EU Regulation 258/97)Copied to:
Dr A Klepsch
Mr N TomlinsonSo they don't know enough about stevia. When will they know? Are they concerned to know? What is being done about stevia now?
Today's answer to that from the website for stevia:
Results of extensive scientific research and tests in the US and around the world made it possible for SweetLeaf® Sweetener™ to obtain GRAS status, the FDA classification of foods that are safe. It is the first Stevia-based product to achieve this designation.
Try:
http://www.sweetleaf.com/what_is_stevia.php
Back to the ginger tea. I'll use honey.