Steviol glycosides

Steviol glycosides are high intensity sweeteners, 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose. They are isolated and purified from the leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni), where it is present at levels up to 13%.

EU Regulation 1131/2011, which came into force on 2 December 2011, permits steviol glycosides to be used in certain specified foods at permitted maximum levels (expressed as steviol equivalents).

Purity criteria (specifications) defining the composition of the permitted steviol glycosides will also be included in EU law.

Novel food application

In 1998 a request was made for stevia (the plants and dried leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) to be marketed as a novel food under the EU novel foods legislation (Regulation 258/97(EC)).

The application was initially evaluated by the Belgian Authorities who recommended that the product should not be approved.

The product was then considered in the UK by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) as part of the approval process for novel foods.

The ACNFP agreed with the opinion of the Belgian authorities and recommended that the product should not be approved due to lack of information supporting its safety, a view that was shared by a number of other member states. The application was subsequently referred to the EC.

It concluded in June 1999 that there was not satisfactory data to support the safe use of these products as ingredients in food or as sucrose substitutes and approval as novel food was not granted.
source: Food Standards Agency

Steviol Glycoside - Usage

Stevia, Rebaten, Steviol, Rebaudioside A, Steviol glycoside, Steviten, Food additives, Sweeteners, enzymatically modified stevia1. STEVIOL GLYCOSIDE

Steviol gloycoside is natural sweetener that is extracted in stevia that is compositae brussels sprouts and makes refining. Steviol glycoside contains seven named sweetening ingredient of Stevioside, Rebaudioside A, Dulcosdie A, Rebaudioside B, Rebaudioside C, Rubusoside, Steviolbioside.

Rebaudioside A is one of the seven sweetening ingredients of Stevia. It is the sweetest among the seven and it sweetening quality is superior to others. It is manufactured through a special separation procedure from Stevia. Food products that contain high Rebaudioside A taste excellent. It is used in such things as nutritious drinks that require high-quality tastes.

• Steviol glycoside, with its strong sweetening effect, is used to neutralize bitter tastes of medicine like syrup products.

• It has the smallest milecule weight and thus easily passes into foods

• Its rapid permeation and salt brand taste effects are suitable for pickled foods.

• A mixed type, which combined Steviol glycoside with dextrin, is used in confections and Korean wines

Steviol glycoside safety: is the genotoxicity database sufficient?

The safety of steviol glycoside sweeteners has been extensively reviewed in the literature. National and international food safety agencies and approximately 20 expert panels have concluded that steviol glycosides, including the widely used sweeteners stevioside and rebaudioside A, are not genotoxic. However, concern has been expressed in recent publications that steviol glycosides may be mutagenic based on select studies representing a small fraction of the overall database, and it has been suggested that further in vivo genotoxicity studies are required to complete their safety profiles. To address the utility of conducting additional in vivo genotoxicity studies, this review evaluates the specific genotoxicity studies that are the sources of concern, and evaluates the adequacy of the database including more recent genotoxicity data not mentioned in those publications. The current database of in vitro and in vivo studies for steviol glycosides is robust and does not indicate that either stevioside or rebaudioside A are genotoxic. This, combined with a lack of evidence for neoplasm development in rat bioassays, establish the safety of all steviol glycosides with respect to their genotoxic/carcinogenic potential.
Urban JD1, Carakostas MC, Brusick DJ.
source: PubMed

Please refer to the Food Additives Bible application for information about full list of dangerous colors, flavor enhancers, preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, stabilizers, gelling agents and thickeners>

key words: aluminum, alzheimer's, artificial sweeteners, brain, brain disorders, health, msg,nutrition, wellness