SC - Re: coffee? tea!
lilinah at grin.net
lilinah at grin.net
Tue Apr 13 00:24:25 PDT 1999
Allison, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA, Kingdom of
Aethelmearc, asked:
>I use lots of sugar. What is Stevia, Christianna? Don't think I've
>heard of that. Herb? Sweetener? Chemical?
Stevia itself is an herb. Many products sweetened with it utilize an
crystalized extract. This is excerpted from the website of a company that
sells just such a commercial extract:
The family of extracts of the Stevia plant which are taken from
the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant (shown in
picture to left). The extracts are known as Steviosides and
Rebaudiosides depending on which part of the plant is isolated.
These extracts are approximately 300 times sweeter than sugar
unless diluted. The plant is native to Paraguay and Brazil.
Since pre-Columbian times the Guarani Indians in Paraguay
have used the Stevia leaves to sweeten medicines and drinks. In
1970 the Japanese began extracting the pure sweet powder found
in the leaf for testing and commercial use. Stevia sweeteners
have been fully approved and widely used in Japan since 1970
in food products and soft drinks and for table-top use. It is also
fully approved and in use in Brazil, where it is also
recommended for diabetics. As a result of the Health Freedom
Act passed in September 1995 by Congress, Stevia leaves and the
extract of Stevia leaves (Steviosides & Rebauiosides), are
allowable for import and commerce in the United States of
America, if they are explicitly labeled as a DIETARY
SUPPLEMENT, or for use as a dietary ingredient of a dietary
supplement. The FDA still has not approved this product for use
as a food additive due to lack of costly testing in the United
States and suspected lobbying pressure by chemical companies
producing synthetic sugar substitutes.
Sorry for the long quote. I found this the most straightforward and
informative of the websites i visited, many of which touted stevia as a
wonder leaf, with little factual data.
Hope this helps. I can testify that it is very sweet - when preblended in
teas, i find it too sweet, as i normally drink my coffees and teas without
sweetening.
Yours, in service,
Anahita Gaouri bint-Karim al-Fassi
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