Calorie-free Stevia's 11-year War with FDA

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Calorie-free Stevia's 11-year War with FDA

by Erica Orden

Special to Newsday

May 2, 2006

 

 

http://www.thenhf.com/fda_51.htm

 

To many people these days, simply sweetening a cup of coffee is

practically akin to picking a poison. Sugar or honey? Too many

calories. Equal or Nutrasweet? Too many health risks, especially

given recent reports detailing diet soda's dangerously high levels

of the cancer-causing compound benzene.

 

So to the sweet-toothed consumer, the increasingly popular, all

natural, calorie-free substance called stevia sounds too good to be

true.

And to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it is.

 

For the past 11 years, while artificial sweeteners like Splenda,

Equal, and Nutrasweet have dominated the diet-conscious market, the

Stevia industry and the FDA have been at odds over whether the

additive poses health risks.

 

But with sales of the plant-based substance, indigenous to South

America, growing rapidly in the past few years, Stevia's sticky

situation is creating an increasingly complex marketplace for

consumers, manufacturers and retailers.

 

FDA hard to convince

 

Though the Stevia industry promotes it as the only natural, no-

calorie way to sweeten foods and drinks and denies any health risks,

citing the heavy use of the substance in Japan since the 1970s

without any major reported safety concerns, the FDA isn't convinced.

Since 1995, the FDA has banned the use of stevia as a sweetener,

approving it only for use as a dietary supplement because " available

toxicological information on stevia is inadequate to demonstrate its

safety as a food additive or to affirm its status as GRAS [generally

recognized as safe]. "

 

But consumers looking for alternatives to sugar and to chemical

sweeteners keep snapping it up.

 

In recent years, the consumption of Stevia, which is sold in powder,

tablet, and liquid form and has a slightly bitter taste, has

ballooned. Sales of Stevia in the United States reached about $45

million in 2005, up nearly 25 percent from the previous year's

sales, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, an industry

guide to market research. Once limited to obscure health food

stores, stevia can now be found at Trader Joe's stores, Whole Foods,

and King Kullen stores across Long Island.

 

A well-kept secret

 

But despite its growing consumer base, stevia's long-term prospects

are severely limited under FDA regulations. For one thing, most

consumers know little to nothing about the plant derivative because

government regulations prevent even retail outlets from explaining

much about the substance. Even diabetics, sweetener-savvy consumers

and potentially some of Stevia's most devoted fans, aren't sure what

to make of the product. While nutritionists, including those who

have worked in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association

like Virginia-based consultant Robyn Webb, recommend stevia to

diabetics as a safe way to sweeten foods and drinks, the ADA refuses

to endorse it because it looks to the FDA for dietary guidelines.

 

And while Stevia distributors are pleased with the recent growth of

their industry, some worry about the future of their marketplace.

 

" The true growth is in food processors putting it in food products,

and that will only come when the FDA approves it, " says Warren

Sablosky, 52, president of NuNaturals, an Arizona-based stevia

distributor that sells pure extract to Wild Oats and Whole Foods

Markets. " A lot of big food producers don't want to sit on the legal

line. "

 

But some have taken the plunge. In January 2004, Steaz, a

Pennsylvania-based natural soda manufacturer, introduced a diet line

made with Stevia rather than aspartame or Nutrasweet. To comply with

the legal guidelines, the company can't market it as a soda or even

as a beverage (it calls the product a dietary supplement) and must

list " supplement facts " rather than " nutrition facts " on its back

label.

 

Sales on the rise

 

But for Steaz, the marketing maneuvering was worth the trouble. The

company's diet black cherry flavor is now its top-selling item at

national grocery chain Wild Oats, and sales of the diet line have

increased 200 percent over each of the past two years, according to

Eric Schnell, 35, co-founder of Steaz. " The natural community has

embraced the brand, " Schnell says.

 

Still, the general public, even consumers wary of artificial

sweeteners, may not be quite as quick to make the switch.

 

" It's not as good as sugar, " said Sigal Elias, 41, of Great Neck, as

she tried a tiny taste of pure stevia alongside her two children,

Edan, 13, and Romi, 11, at a recent Earth Day celebration outside

Grand Central Terminal. " Usually, we drink diet soda, but now we're

trying to eliminate it. Because of the side effects, we're kind of

concerned, " she admitted, " but we love the flavor of Splenda. "