The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers have given their approval for the use of steviol glycosides, a natural sweetener derived from the stevia plant, as an ingredient in foods and beverages in the European Union. The new regulatory policy will enter into force twenty days after it is published in the EU Official Journal.  This means that products sweetened with steviol glycosides could be available to consumers across Europe by as early as 3 December 2011. Steviol glycosides are considered... ...Read more »

Stevia supplier PureCircle has argued that new “important” markets will open for the high-intensity sweetener after a positive ruling global food standards body Codex.The London-listed firm said yesterday that a decision from the Codex Alimentarius Commission would help markets including India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines approve the use of stevia in food and drink products. CFO William Mitchell said a decision from Codex to adopt all of the proposed draft maximum levels for... ...Read more »

Suppliers of stevia today lined up to welcome a ruling within the EU that brings full regulatory backing for the intense sweetener a step nearer. The EU’s Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health yesterday voted to recommend the use of stevia as an ingredient in food and beverages. Products containing stevia have been on sale in France for two years but suppliers are waiting for the EU to say that the ingredient can be used across the region. The European Parliament is set to look... ...Read more »

The European Food Safety Authority has criticised a request by the European Commission for a re-evaluation of the safety of the sweetener aspartame.The Commission’s request comes despite the fact that EFSA reviewed the latest studies on aspartame last month and scheduling a full evaluation in 2020. “When we evaluated scientific studies on aspartame recently, we didn’t see anything glaring that would lead us to believe people should change their daily intake,” said an EFSA... ...Read more »

The International Stevia Council (ISC) announced today the launch of an independent Proficiency Testing Program (PTP) for stevia products. At the moment, there are a wide variety of analytical methods and reference standards being used within the industry to determine steviol glycoside content. Importantly, the quality of the analytical methods and reference standards is not consistent across the industry.  This has resulted in inaccurate and inconsistent representation of product composition and... ...Read more »

Stevia has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity on the global stage over the past four years. A new study by leading food and drink consultancy Zenith International estimates that worldwide sales of stevia reached 3,500 metric tonnes in 2010, a 27% increase on 2009, taking its overall market value to US$285 million. “As rising levels of obesity and diabetes continue to dominate headlines, there has never been so much emphasis on reducing our caloric intake as well as consuming healthier foods... ...Read more »

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) this week released details of proposed changes to the Food Standards Code and invited comment from interested organisations and individuals. Among the changes under consideration are the approval of a GM corn, steviol as a high intensity sweetener, and food for special medical purposes. Anyone can apply to amend the Food Standards Code. FSANZ assesses the safety of any new food, substance or food production technology and conducts a regulatory impact... ...Read more »

The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest beverage company, and Chromocell Corporation, a company focused on using proprietary technologies to discover and develop novel flavor ingredients for the food, beverage, and ingredient supply industries, announced today that they are collaborating on flavor innovation research. This partnership agreement includes the discovery and development of sweetness enhancers, natural sweeteners and other flavor ingredients. This partnership is central to The... ...Read more »

Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut has begun producing chocolate sweetened with Stevia extract on an industrial scale, with the first products to be launched by Belgian specialist chocolate maker Cavalier. Callebaut have replaced sugar in the new chocolate completely with a sweetener solution,  which is both high in fibre and contains 65% less calories. It also does not have the laxative effect of other non-sugar sweeteners, but the company says they haven’t compromisied on the celebrated... ...Read more »

Stevia supplier PureCircle has signed another venture to market sweeteners, this time with German food ingredients group Dohler.The venture, announced yesterday (23 September), comes a day after Malaysia-based PureCircle announced it was teaming up with French sugar giant Tereos to sell low-calorie sweeteners in Europe and Brazil. The Dohler venture will see PureCircle combine its stevia ingredients with the German group’s “sweetening flavour and application know-how” to make “natural,... ...Read more »