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 »

Food Standards Australian New Zealand has invited comment on a plan to approve Japanese-made sweetener Advantame. The sweetener, made by the world’s largest aspartame supplier Ajinomoto, was also submitted to the US’s Food and Drug Administration in April. Advantame is described as ‘thousands of times sweeter than sugar’, meaning that much smaller quantitites would be required to produce a sweet taste. Aspartame is around 200 times sweeter than sugar. The sweetener has been... ...Read more »

Stevia supplier PureCircle yesterday (3 August) launched a global campaign in a bid to boost awareness of the natural sweetener among consumers. The UK-listed group said a “trust mark” entitled “Stevia by PureCircle” would be carried on the packaging of “leading manufacturers around the world”. The print, digital and TV campaign will start next month alongside other co-marketing activities already in place. Products with the message “naturally sweetened... ...Read more »

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) scientific Panel on additives, the ANS Panel, has assessed the safety of steviol glycosides, sweeteners extracted from plant leaves, and established an Acceptable Daily Intake for their safe use. The assessment was conducted after European Stevia Association (Eustas), Cargill and Japanese firm Morita, all filed petitions seeking regulatory approval. Steviol glycosides are intense sweeteners extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana... ...Read more »

It’s stevia’s year. All-natural and calorie-free, stevia is poised to become the “holy grail” of sweeteners, according to the latest report from market researchers Mintel. Since December 2008, when the FDA approved use of rebaudioside A (an active ingredient of stevia) in US food and beverage, the stevia market has erupted in that nation. The same can’t be said in Australia, however, with the buzz around stevia failing to ignite here despite the ingredient receiving... ...Read more »

A natural sweetener made from the stevia plant could have a major impact in the food and beverage market. The plant-based sugar substitute is increasingly being used by food and beverage companies – including the likes of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and should continue to gain market share, according to a Rabobank report: Stevia and the U.S. Market. For hundreds of years, the stevia plant has been used as a sweetener in Paraguay, South America. The stevia plant extract which tastes the most like... ...Read more »

After almost a decade of research and 4 years of submissions, CQUniversity’s efforts have paid off with approval of the natural sweetener steviol glycosides (stevia), as an ingredient in foods and beverages in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian food authority FSANZ has approved the use of the natural sweetener and this will be gazetted tomorrow, October 9. The stevia plant, renowned for its extraordinary sweetness, is now being considered worldwide as a suitable substitute for sugar.... ...Read more »