US food giant Cargill said yesterday that it believes there will be demand across the EU for stevia, the natural, low-calorie sweetener awaiting regulatory approval from Brussels. Cargill, which develops stevia sweeteners for food and drink makers and sells its own branded tabletop sweetener under the Truvia trademark, is eyeing opportunities in the EU for the ingredient. Zanna McFerson, assistant vice president of Cargill’s health and nutrition arm, told just-food that the company has been... ...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 »