Stevia, the natural sweetener derived from the Stevia rebaudiana plant, enjoys widespread acceptance in many countries, and it was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for distribution as a food sweetener in the United States in 2008. Before that, it was available as a supplement in health food stores. While stevia has a long list of advocates, its reputation also suffers from some lingering doubts about its safety.
Cancer
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nutritional advocacy group, suggests that steviol, the sweet derivative of stevia, may increase the risk of cancer in human beings if the substance acts as mutagenic compound, affecting the body's DNA. Although there are no conclusive tests showing that this occurs in humans, in the laboratory, steviol converts to a mutagenic compound.
Metabolism
CSPI also reports that stevioside, a term used interchangeably with stevia, may alter the natural metabolic conversion of food to energy in the human body if consumed in large amounts. This may not be an issue unless the sweetener is used widely in sugar-free products such as diet sodas and other diet products, which some people may consume in excess.
Children may be at an increased risk for developing metabolic issues, although there are no definitive tests supporting this assumption. Use of the sweetener in small amounts appears to be the safest practice until further testing rules out additional risk.
Fertility
CSPI points to a 1998 Japanese study conducted at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, that found reduced sperm production in male rats who consumed stevioside. In addition, the male rats experienced increased cell production in their testicles, a side effect that may affect the production of sperm. Female rats who consumed large quantities of steviol gave birth to smaller offspring and experienced reduced litter size.
No tests indicate that humans would experience the same reduction in fertility, even if they consumed large quantities of stevia; however, there is also no evidence that stevia would not have a similar effect.
Quantity
Although testing on animals indicates that consuming large amounts of stevia may produce negative side effects, there is no research supporting the idea that small amounts of the sweetener are dangerous to humans.
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