Sweetener manufacturer Merisant has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US as they seek to restructure their balance sheet in order to free up funds for supporting a sweetener derived from the stevia plant. The company, best known for their Equal sweetener, has come under heightened pressure in the industry as other sweeteners – particularly Tate & Lyle’s Splenda – begin to eat away at their market share. They have struggled to meet debt obligations as the financial turmoil... ...Read more »

The use of the stevia plant to create natural sugar substitutes threatens to become the new battleground for the traditional Coke and Pepsi rivalry to play out. Coca-Cola has teamed with Cargill to create their own natural sweetener from the plant, while PepsiCo has joined with Whole Earth Sweetener to create PureVia. Pepsi’s version, derived from stevia, has no calories and provides a natural sweetener for food and drink products. PepsiCo reports that PureVia will debut in a new nutritionally... ...Read more »