Problems With Stevia Extract

Stevia is an artificial sweetener available in powder or liquid form and as an ingredient in numerous diet food and beverage products. Unlike other artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame, stevia is all-natural, originating from a plant related to the chrysanthemum originally grown in South America. Stevia is about 30 times sweeter than sugar and does not impact blood sugar, making it a low-calorie dream – but concerns about its safety exist.

History

Many countries have used stevia for years, but it was banned for use in the United States from 1991 to 1995 due to studies suggesting it may cause cancer. After 1995, you could find the herb sold as a supplement in health food stores and in 2008, stevia hit the mainstream and received the FDA approval “Generally Approved as Safe,” or GRAS, so it could be used in mass-produced food and beverage products. Manufacturers developed rebaudioside A, a palatable version of the stevia extract. Truvia, PureVia and SweetLeaf are commercial names for the sweetener.

Concerns

South Americans have used stevia for thousands of years and the Japanese for at least 30 years with no significant side effects. However, both populations use it in very small amounts. Americans tend to go to excess with certain products -- especially one as alluring as a no-calorie natural sweetener. Once it appears in multiple diet drinks, yogurts and baked goods, the nutrition watchdog organization, the Center for the Science in the Public Interest, fears that millions of people might consume large amounts of the herb – and this may cause health problems.

Cancer

A 2008 letter from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration emphasized the need for more testing of stevia before approval was granted for general food usage. One of the primary components of stevia, stevioside, correlated with genetic mutations, chromosome damage and DNA breakage in test tube and animal studies – possible precursors to cancer. However, these studies did not look at rebaudioside A nor did they prove that the genetic mutations and chromosome damage actually led to cancer. One of these studies, published in the May 1998 journal “Drug and Chemical Toxicology” subjected hamsters to doses of stevioside 80 times higher than a normal amount recommended for humans. A more recent review of multiple studies on stevia and cancer, published in a July 2008 issue of “Food and Chemical Toxicology,” concluded that the use of stevia in the human diet does not pose a risk of genetic damage or increased risk of cancer.

Reproduction

A November 1999 publication of the “Journal of Ethnopharmacology” found that male rats fed stevia for 60 days experienced possible side effects that may affect their fertility. This one study has not been duplicated, however. A later study in a 2006 issue of “Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health” found that stevia has no effect on the fertility of female rats. “Phytochemistry” published a review in November 2003 noting that stevia does not seem to cause genetic mutations or infertility and is completely safe for consumption by most people.

Flavor

Some people find stevia to have a bitter aftertaste. If you use stevia for baking, it could impart an unpleasant flavor to your cookies, muffins or cakes. Manufacturers of commercial products containing stevia have adjusted their formulas to mask this unpleasant flavor.