Sometimes it seems like every other day there is a new sugar substitute on the market -- the one that is going to transform the industry. Well, Stevia might actually be that sugar substitute.
Time reports that the natural sweetness in two relatively new Stevia products -- PureVia (the brand is owned by PepsiCo and Truvia (the product that Coke is counting on to formulate new diet drinks) appear to be gaining market share on Splenda and could bring growth the flagging market of sweeteners.
In August, product research firm Mintel suggested that sales of stevia-based sweeteners could exceed $100 million this year. The incredible part of that statistic is that Mintel formulated that estimate from the 110 products that currently contain stevia and those numbers are despite the fact that 70 percent of the American public has apparently never even heard of the sweetener. Readers of Fat City have been in the know since last December, when the FDA first approved the sweetener for use.
Companies are still trying to figure out how to market the sweetner made from the leaves of the stevia plant. Some are caught in the difficult position of trying to sell new stevia-based products without denigrating existing lines that contain artificial sweeteners. But like all new entries into the beverage market, Mintel senior analyst David Browne thinks it is still a matter of taste as to whether stevia will stay in the market:
Taste is what it's all about. In this segment it's essential... I think that of the products that are out there right now, some of them don't taste very good. There is a real 'what if' in the market: Is the taste good enough to convert consumers?"[Image via Flickr: xoxefx]
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Actually Jack you are incorrect, GLG Life Tech uses water and then it further "refines" the stevioside with ethanol, methanol and solvents. Cargill then takes that stevioside and uses methanol again to change the product even further. By the way I got that information from the documents that Cargill submitted to the FDA before it was approved. According to Cargill and the FDA Truvia is allowed to have residue of ethanol, methanol and several other nasty chemicals I do not wish to have in my body. And just to set the record straight SweetLeaf Stevia was declared GRAS in the spring of 08 and they really do use only water to extract the stvioside.
yoda--I'm afraid your facts are a little off. The bitter taste from most stevia sources comes from the mix of steviocides which give the leaf its flavor. The sweetest steviol glycocide, rebaudiaside A, is what the fuss is about. The FDA approval was for RA97, a concoction that is 97 percent rebaudiaside A, and leaves minimal to no aftertaste. Also using pure water in their refinement process is GLG Life Tech--www.glglifetech.com--who supply Cargill with the stevia used in Truvia. See the wikipedia entry for stevia.
Yes! I use my stevia in smoothies! It only took me a couple of tries years ago in the beginning of my usage to figure out that a very small amount (like, less than 1/8 of a teaspoon) will sufficiently sweeten a 16 oz fruit smoothie. Those first couple of tries were tough to take, not gonna lie.
That's a good point, yoda. Thanks for making mention of that...I can't remember off the top of my head what kind of stevia "brand" I have, but I do know it was the only one that was available at Whole Foods before the whole stevia as a sweetener became popular recently.
There is a reason why there seems to be a contradiction here when it comes to the taste of stevia. Not all stevia tastes the same. There are many stevia brands out there, and people should know that they differ both in taste and quality. This is because most use chemicals and alcohols during the extraction process, which alters the taste of the leaf. In nature, the stevia leaf is simply very sweet, and therefore, yummy, but the chemicals change the taste, which is why you get an after taste (that people hate) in some brands. I don't know what brand Faith uses, but SweetLeaf stevia is said to be the best tasting because they are the only ones that only use pure water during extraction, so the natural sweet taste remains with no after taste. It's also probably the healthiest for this reason too! SweetLeaf is the only sweetener on the market with 0 calories, 0 carbs, and a 0 glycemic index. I love using it in smoothies! It is soooo good!
I effing HATE Splenda in anything. The taste is foul. Just...GAH!
Stevia, on the other hand, is something I've already been using in it's natural form (they sell it in the supplement area at Whole Foods...at least they used to. I haven't had to buy any in a looong time, because a little stevia goes a very long way!) for many years, and I got used to the flavor of it immediately when I started using it. (I've never noticed any aftertaste in the natural supplement, personally.)
I haven't tried any of the new truvia or purevia incarnations yet, but my husband has switched to using it in his cofee at work...he figured out how many extra cals he was getting in the sugar alone that he was using, and freaked out a lil' bit. He seems to like it well enough.
I'd be willing to try the new sodas with the stevia sweetener. But I've also been fine with the sweetener that's already used in Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi for all these years, so meh. My whole comment might be moot, really.
The problem with xylitol is that it still has roughly half the calories of sugar. I really like the blend of Ace-K and aspartame that makes Coke Zero taste so much better than Diet Coke.
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