European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), have established that steviol glycosides are safe to consume by all populations

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), have established that steviol glycosides are safe to consume by all populations

by Marie MannNo Comments
The final big hurdle to the universal use of stevia in commercial food products has been cleared. We consumers can celebrate the final approval of Stevia for use as a sweetener in the European Union. "The regulation has been formally adopted on 11 November and will enter into force twenty days after publication in the EU Official Journal, which occurred on 12 November." Europeans  will be able to enjoy products sweetened by steviol glycosides as early as 2 December 2011, so keep your eyes peeled for many new products that will be sweetened with the most natural of all zero calorie sweeteners - Stevia. But STOP! With all the excitement, we should bear in mind though that a manufactured product, even if it is sweetened with natural healthy sweetener such as stevia, will never  be as healthy as a food prepared at home with all natural ingredients that suit you individual bodies needs. We should keep paying careful attention to the full list of ingredients...
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The sweet business with Stevia in the EU soon officially permitted!

The sweet business with Stevia in the EU soon officially permitted!

by Marie MannNo Comments
The long battle of biology professor Jan Geuns to get the EU Commision to approve the natural sweet stevia extract for use in Europe since 1997 finally seems to be over. The EU commission gave the green light, the proposal is still under consideration in the EU Parliament and EU Council; theoretically, objections could still be raised until 29 October, but this happening is highly unlikely. The Estimated date for the official green light of the EU Commission is currently 15th November 2011. Professor Geuns is delighted by the progress, but is not yet satisfied. He is already working on another application for admission; he is pushing to ensure that the extracts may be used in greater quantities and especially in “all foods”. This shall make it easier for companies to sweeten with stevia in any way they want, allowing development of a wide variety of processed food sweetened with stevia extract.   So, in future, the 3000 times sweeter than sugar stevia extract will not...
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