Newest Sweetener on the Block

Muffins sweetened with stevia.

Check out the newest sweetener on the block … it’s called, stevia extract.

Leaves from the stevia plant, an herb native to South America and Central America, have been used as a sweetener for centuries. But stevia extract could not be sold as a sweetener in the United States until late last year. That’s when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared a highly purified extract of the herb, called rebaudioside A, safe for use in foods and beverages, reports the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Stevia, a natural substitute for sugar that is an extract of a plant native to Central and South America. is shown here in powder and plant form. The FDA had been hesitant to approve stevia, in part because an early study showed that some forms of the extract had negative health effects under certain conditions when consumed in large quantities.

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