Coke 'Discovers' Stevia
Stevia - unless you've been in a health food store recently, you've probably never heard of this herb - at least not in the States.
Stevia is an herb that's been used in South America for centuries as an 'artificial' sweetener, only it's not artificial - it's only calorie free. It's up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, and if you buy the SweetLeaf brand, you don't have any trouble with the licorice aftertaste. Japan, a country where the government is smart enough to ban Nutrasweet and the like, allows only stevia to be used in non-sugar foods and drinks and has done so for over 10 years. European scientific studies have shown no health risks with stevia (and in fact it seems to help people with diabetes regulate blood-suger levels), so why hasn't it been approved for food use in America? Well, the artificial sweetener companies have good lobbyists and lots of money.
Who has the deep pockets possible to counteract such lobbying power?
Coke.
Yet it's interesting. Stevia is an herb, and natural products aren't patentable. So Coke is basically working now to take something you can buy at any health food store and to create a patentable product from it. Oh, and they made up a name for the substance (previously known as steviaside) to do so - Rebiana.
I'm happy that people may finally have access to something that's sugar free and actually not harmful because I recognize that most Americans don't go to health food stores. But I'm disheartened that it has to happen by Coke getting filthy, stinking richer when health food advocates have been trying to get it approved for over a decade.
Stevia is an herb that's been used in South America for centuries as an 'artificial' sweetener, only it's not artificial - it's only calorie free. It's up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, and if you buy the SweetLeaf brand, you don't have any trouble with the licorice aftertaste. Japan, a country where the government is smart enough to ban Nutrasweet and the like, allows only stevia to be used in non-sugar foods and drinks and has done so for over 10 years. European scientific studies have shown no health risks with stevia (and in fact it seems to help people with diabetes regulate blood-suger levels), so why hasn't it been approved for food use in America? Well, the artificial sweetener companies have good lobbyists and lots of money.
Who has the deep pockets possible to counteract such lobbying power?
Coke.
Yet it's interesting. Stevia is an herb, and natural products aren't patentable. So Coke is basically working now to take something you can buy at any health food store and to create a patentable product from it. Oh, and they made up a name for the substance (previously known as steviaside) to do so - Rebiana.
I'm happy that people may finally have access to something that's sugar free and actually not harmful because I recognize that most Americans don't go to health food stores. But I'm disheartened that it has to happen by Coke getting filthy, stinking richer when health food advocates have been trying to get it approved for over a decade.