Stevia Exploitation of sweetener from nature?

Stevia: Exploitation of sweetener from nature? According to media reports, the sweetener Stevia is to be mass-marketed in the coming months. While naturopathy has long been calling for the natural sweetener, industry has now discovered it and begins to take it for granted.

(23.04.2010) According to media reports, the sweetener Stevia is expected to be mass-marketed in the coming months. While naturopathy has long been calling for the natural sweetener, industry has now discovered it and begins to take it for granted. Stevia is a South American plant whose leaves are about 30 times sweeter than cane sugar. South American Indians have been using the plant for centuries as a sweetener. The extracted ingredients, steviol glycosides, the plant should be even 300 times sweeter than sugar.

The good thing about the plant is that it only tastes similar to our sugar, but other side effects of our sugar disappear, such as weight gain (stevia has virtually no calories) and tooth decay. In addition, the honeywort, as it is also called, can be used almost safely by diabetics, because it does not increase the blood sugar level. On the contrary, it should be able to lower even the blood sugar. Naturopathy knows „Stevia Rebaudiana“ long time. As a naturopathic remedy, it is sometimes used in high blood pressure and heartburn. An effect is also in the inhibition of plaque (plaque) and thus as a possible caries prevention, which is why partially in mouthwashes and toothpastes Stevia is found.

For a long time there has been a demand to use the natural sweet herb instead of sugar as a sweetener. But when Stevia first came out about 30 years ago, a US study, allegedly co-funded by the sweetener industry, revealed that the sweet leaf has carcinogenic tendencies. But now the food industry has discovered Stevia as a new means to profit. According to a report by Spiegel Online, one of the sweeteners contained in Stevia, rebaudioside A has been chemically synthesized and patented. Stevia is banned, but the ingredient is licensed and will replace the expiring and expired patents of aspartame and other sweeteners. According to Spiegel Online, Coca Cola is said to have already filed 24 patents for the stevia plant in 2007 and is working with its US partner Cargill to expand its product range.

The world leader in stevia use is Japan. Here Stevia has been grown for about 50 years and used for almost as long. You can find the South American sweet herb there in many foods and drinks and it should have a market value of over 40 percent. Stevia has not yet been approved as food by the European Commission (EC). The ban will be bypassed according to media reports by introducing stevia as an ingredient of other products. (Thorsten Fischer, HP Osteopathy)

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