Stevia as a supplement

[dancingbear]

Quote:
No, it isn't. It was never banned as a dietary supplement, that I know of, but was banned as a sweetener, I suspect because the makers of artificial sweeteners were doing all they could to block it.

Stevia has been the main sweetener used in soft drinks and other products in Japan and other countries for ages, and was widely used in England during wartime when sugar was strictly rationed. The U.S. doesn't pay any attention to studies done in other countries.

It has a strong safety record, unlike artificial sweeteners. It should be noted that stevia is not an artificial non-caloric sweetener, it is a natural non-caloric sweetener. Another natural non-carloric sweetener is lo han, which I prefer, I like the taste better.

 

[Akane]

The official wording is "banned as a food additive". It can only be obtained as a supplement and cannot be placed in food items as a sweetener before being sold. Studies were being conducted overseas though to get it approved for more uses.

 

[dancingbear]

They've changed at least some of that now, because stevia is now allowed to be sold as a sweetener. See Truvia, and Sun Crystals. Those would be considered food additives, at least I think so. Stevia has been approved as a dietary supplement for years, it's been freely available in any health food store. It was not allowed in your soda, but you could buy it to eat.

 

[Akane]

Yes it can be sold as a sweetener by itself or as a dietary supplement. It cannot be added to food. That is the point of banned as a food additive. The product used to sweeten sodas is not straight stevia. It is an extract from it that the FDA approved last december. Companies still cannot add plain stevia to food products before being sold. It's very hard to find sites that aren't completely biased one direction or the other but ignoring that these sites do have good information about what all is going on legally with stevia.

http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/health/nutrition/stevia2.html
http://www.owndoc.com/stevia/stevia-still-banned-the-stevia-fda-conspiracy/

 

[dancingbear]

Ah. I misunderstood what you were saying. I thought you meant that stevia was banned, period, for use in food at all, including to be added to food by the consumer.

Anyway, I'm sure it won't do chickens any harm, they'll probably like it, too.