spicy and cinnamon pecans and almonds, chewy and
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(but the FDA was afraid you were going to ask)
Simply put, stevia is a remarkable plant, many times sweeter than sugar with virtually no calories. In parts
of South America, it has been used for hundreds of years to safely sweeten and flavor beverages. In
Japan, stevia has been used by millions of people for those purposes for over 25 years.
But in the United States the stevia issue has not been that simple. If it's unknown to you, perhaps that's
because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has maneuvered to keep stevia products off the U.S.
market despite efforts by the Lipton Tea Company and the American Herbal Products Association to have
the FDA acknowledge stevia to be GRAS (generally recognized as safe).
The stevia tale in the U.S. is one of FDA raids and mysterious trade complaints, searches, seizures, and
border blockades. Until 1995, when the passage of the Dietary Supplement, Health and Education Act
(DSHEA) was passed, there was an "import alert" that in effect blocked all stevia from entering the country.
Although not approved in the U.S. as a sweetening agent, stevia can now be sold as a dietary supplement,
and even though it's still the same sweet herb, the revised import alert prohibits any mention of sweetness
on the label.
Is it safe for diabetics?
Yes, people have consumed stevia for centuries with no known side effects. Individuals who cannot
tolerate sugar or other sweeteners usually can tolerate stevia.
Studies suggest that stevia has a regulating effect on the pancreas and could help stabilize blood sugar
levels in the body, therefore making it a safe dietary supplement for people with diabetes, hypoglycemia,
and candidiasis.
What they are saying:
"Stevia...is not only non-toxic, it also has several traditional medicinal uses. The Indian tribes of South
America have used it as a digestive aid and have also applied it topically for years to help wound healing.
Recent clinical studies have shown it can increase glucose tolerance and decrease blood sugar levels. Of
the two sweeteners (aspartame and stevia), stevia wins hands down for safety."
- Dr. Whitaker's Newsletter, December 1994
"Stevia has virtually no calories. It dissolves easily in water and mixes well with all other sweeteners...I use
it myself..."
- Dr. Robert C. Atkins, MD, author of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution:
The Guarani Indians had known for centuries about the unique advantages of kaa he-he (a native
term which translates as "sweet herb") -- long before the invaders from the Old World were lured by
the treasures of the New. These native people knew the leaves of the wild stevia shrub (a perennial
indigenous to the Amambay Mountain region) to have a sweetening power unlike anything else; they
commonly used the leaves to enhance the taste of bitter mate (a tea-like beverage) and medicinal
potions, or simply chewed them for their sweet taste. The widespread native use of stevia was
chronicled by the Spaniards in historical documents preserved in the Paraguayan National Archives in
Asuncion. Historians noted that indigenous peoples had been sweetening herbal teas with stevia
leaves "since ancient times." In due course, it was introduced to settlers. By the 1800s, daily stevia
consumption had become well entrenched throughout the region -- not just in Paraguay, but also in
neighboring Brazil and Argentina.
Like the discovery of America itself, however, credit for stevia's "discovery" goes to an Italian. In this
case, the explorer was a botanist whose initial unfamiliarity with the region (along with his difficulty in
locating the herb) caused him to believe that he had stumbled onto a "little-known" plant.
A New World "Discovery"
Dr. Moises Santiago Bertoni, director of the College of Agriculture in Asuncion, first learned of what he
described as "this very strange plant" from Indian guides while exploring Paraguay's eastern forests in
1887. This area was not the herb's native 'growing ground.' Consequently, Bertoni, by his own
account, was initially "unable to find it." It was 12 years before he was presented with tangible
evidence -- a packet of stevia fragments and broken leaves received from a friend who had gotten
them from the mate plantations in the northeast. He subsequently announced his discovery of the
"new species" in a botanical journal published in Asuncion.
Bertoni named the "new" variety of the Stevia genus in honor of a Paraguayan chemist named
Rebaudi who subsequently became the first to extract the plant's sweet constituent. "In placing in the
mouth the smallest particle of any portion of the leaf or twig," Bertoni wrote, "one is surprised at the
strange and extreme sweetness contained therein. A fragment of the leaf only a few square
millimeters in size suffices to keep the mouth sweet for an hour; a few small leaves are sufficient to
sweeten a strong cup of coffee or tea."
It wasn't until 1903, however, that Bertoni discovered the live plant, a gift from the parish priest of Villa
San Pedro. The following year, as he recounted, "the appearance of the first flowers enabled me to
make a complete study" -- the publication of which appeared in December, 1905, after an interruption
caused by a civil war. What he found was enough to convince him that "the sweetening power of kaa
he-e is so superior to sugar that there is no need to wait for the results of analyses and cultures to
affirm its economic advantage...the simplest test proves it."
By 1913, Bertoni's earlier impression of what had now been dubbed Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni had
undergone a change. What he had previously referred to as a "rare" and "little-known" plant had now
become "famous" and "well-known." The botanist's initial misperception is explained by the Herb
Research Foundation as being akin to that of a foreigner trying to find wild ginseng in the U.S., and
coming to the erroneous conclusion that it is a rare plant when, in fact, it is widely prevalent --
provided you know where to look. Further complicating the picture was the difficulty of traveling within
Paraguay during the late 1800s, entailing "an upriver journey of many days by steamship."
Raising Stevia -- and the Stakes
Bertoni's "discover" was a turning point for stevia in one very real sense (other than being identified,
analyzed and given a name). Whereas prior to 1900 it had grown only in the wild, with consumption
limited to those having access to its natural habitat, it now became ripe for cultivation. In 1908, a ton
of dried leaves was harvested, the very first stevia crop. Before long, stevia plantations began
springing up, a development that corresponded with a marked reduction in the plant's natural growth
area due to the clearing of forests by timber interests and, to an extent, the removal of thousands of
stevia plants for transplantation (the growing of stevia from seed simply doesn't work). Consequently,
its use began to increase dramatically, both in and beyond Latin America.
As word of this unique sweet herb began to spread, so, too, did interest in its potential as a
marketable commodity. That, in turn, raised concerns within the business community. Stevia was first
brought to the attention of the U.S. government in 1918 by a botanist for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture who said he had learned about stevia while drinking mate and tasted it years later, finding
it to have a "remarkable sweetness."
Three years later, stevia was presented to the USDA by American Trade Commissioner George S.
Brady as a "new sugar plant with great commercial possibilities." Brady took note of its nontoxicity
and its ability to be used in its natural state, with only drying and grinding required. He also conveyed
the claims that it was "an ideal and safe sugar for diabetics." In a memo to the Latin American
Division of the USDA, Brady further stated that he was "desirous of seeing it placed before any
American companies liable to be interested, as it is very probable that it will be of great commercial
importance."
Stevia's commercial potential, however, was already known to others who were less than happy about
it. In 1913, a report from the official public laboratory of Hamburg, Germany, noted that "specimens
received are of the well-known plant which alarmed sugar producers some years ago."
Rediscovered in Japan
While nothing came of this early show of interest in the United States, an event occurred in France in
1931 that would later prove significant. There, two chemists isolated the most prevalent of several
compounds that give the stevia leaf its sweet taste, a pure white crystalline extract they named
stevioside. One U.S. government researcher, Dr. Hewitt G. Fletcher, described this extract as "the
sweetest natural product yet found," though adding, "It is natural to ask, 'of what use is stevioside?'
The answer at this point is 'none.'"
Within the next couple of decades, however, the enterprising Japanese had discovered just how
useful stevioside really was. The Japanese either banned or strictly regulated artificial sweeteners
during the 1960s, consistent with a popular movement away from allowing chemicals in the food
supply. They soon discovered the ideal replacement for both sugar and its synthetic substitutes:
refined stevia extracts.
Originally introduced to Japan in 1970 by a consortium of food-product manufacturers, stevioside and
other stevia products quickly caught on. By 1988, they reportedly represented approximately 41% of
the market share of potently sweet substances consumed in Japan. In addition to widespread use as
a tabletop sweetener, like the packets of saccharin ("Sweet-n-Low") and aspartame ("Equal")
commonly found in the United States, stevia was also used by the Japanese to sweeten a variety of
food products, including ice cream, bread, candies, pickles, seafood, vegetables, and soft drinks.
In addition to demonstrating stevia's nearly instant popularity in locales far removed from its native
habitat, Japan's experience proved several other significant facts about this phenomenal plant: its
adaptability and its safety. Adaptability was proven through the discovery that the plant could be
grown throughout most of this temperate island nation, albeit under special hothouse conditions.
Studies were even initiated to evaluate the substitution of stevia for rice under cultivation in some
areas. Stevia's safety was proven through extensive scientific testing.
The spread of the stevia phenomenon was not limited to Japan. Today it is also grown and used in
approximately 10 other countries outside South America, including China, Germany, Malaysia, Israel
and South Korea. Stevia might by now be entrenched in the United States as well, had it not been for
a concerted effort to block its very entry.
From "The Stevia Story: A tale of incredible sweetness & intrigue."
Copyright, 2000 by Donna Gates
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