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Coca-Cola will begin selling products made with Stevia, a zero-calorie sweetener derived from an herb that's gained a following in the heath food community despite not yet being approved by the FDA. Three flavors of Odwalla juice sweetened with a Stevia product called Rebiana are expected to hit the market this week.
Pepsi also has two Stevia-sweetened drinks ready for the market, but they say they won't start selling them until FDA gives Stevia the official OK. The FDA is expected to approve Stevia as "generally regarded as safe" any time now.
Coke hopes that Stevia, which is often described as "all natural" (whatever that means), will help reverse the decline in sales of soft drinks.
I've had Stevia sweetener before, and it didn't taste a whole lot different to me than other artificial sweeteners. But then, I'm a die-hard Diet Coke drinker, so I may not be the target audience.
Has anyone else tasted Stevia? Thoughts?
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12-19-2008 @12:07PM David said... I work in the food industry, and actually stevia was certified for the FDAs GRAS status yesterday. I have tried a number of stevia sweetners, and I must say that truvia by cargill is the best tasting stevia sweetener. Other companies such as Stevia in the Raw have a somewhat bitter taste, but truvia seemed to clear that up quite well.
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12-19-2008 @12:27PM Barry said... Stevia is a natural sweetener from the Stevia plant. It's big in the Weight Watchers world since its practically no points. That said, I've only tried the Stevia raw stuff and it was really sweet but had a dreadful aftertaste. I'm hoping they can strip out the bitterness and still maintain the natural sweetness.
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12-19-2008 @1:00PM martin said... Stevia is okay but it does have a little bit of an after taste. Right now it's made from a plant, just like sugar, and therefore I trust it more than the chemically produced artificial sweeteners. Unfortunately, I think in order to make it taste sweet without the aftertaste it will have to be over-refined and therefore may not remain as healthy for you.
It's still a natural, plant-based zero calorie sweetener so that's nice.
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12-19-2008 @1:03PM DanGarion said... Stevia rocks, it's about time they accept it. Natural plant sweetener.
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12-19-2008 @1:33PM Astin said... I had stevia years ago in Europe and loved the taste. A box showed up at work a couple years ago and I was able to try it again. Still like it.
While it doesn't taste anything like sugar to me, it's not anywhere near as terrible as aspartame, potassium acesulfame, or any other artificial sweetner.
Coke's been working on this stevia-BASED sweetner for awhile, as all the chemical ones were getting bad press at one point or another. The controversy over the original banning of Stevia by the FDA is pretty interesting if you look it up.
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12-19-2008 @5:16PM Shawn said... Coke (and Pepsi) tried new drinks when Splenda hit the market, too. I'm a devoted Splenda user, but I tried all the Splenda-using drinks, and found they were all too sweet or just tasted "off" to me.
Unfortunately (or maybe not), I'm allergic to any of the aspartame family of artificial sweeteners so I find I end up back with regular, original Coke, Pepsi, etc., which usually taints my taste for the other versions anyway; nothing tastes like the real thing ;)
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12-20-2008 @12:19AM fooducate said... A summary of how we got from sugar and honey to here:
The (un)Natural History of Sweet - From Sugar to Stevia
http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/12/18/the-unnatural-history-of-sweet-from-sugar-to-stevia/
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12-20-2008 @7:12PM doodoolemonque said... If Coke and Pepsi are so concerned about recovering lost sales, why don't they just go back to the reason began drinking soft drinks ro begin with. No, not cocain, real sugar. Nothing comes close to the taste of sugar; not stevia, not corn sweeteners, not sucralose, not nothing. I have some young friends who recently traveled out of the country for the first time and had their first taste of real Coke. They had no idea why it tasted so completely different.
Seriously, if the American manufacturers want to boost sales. try what works in every other food business in the world...quality, good tasting ingredients. How much more simple can it be? I'd love for someone from a bottling company to explain this. People pay for quality. If they get a taste of real sugar colas, they'll be back.
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12-20-2008 @9:36PM Hilary said... Coke and Pepsi are marketing stevia-VARIANT (called Truvia) sweetened drinks. AKA they created a patentable sweetener in a LAB because they couldn't profit enough from the real thing.
This irks me to no end because the FDA has refused to acknowledge the stevia plant as a sweetener for years and it's required to be labeled as a supplement and not a food/sweetener.
I use stevia and think it's one of the better sweeteners. I would rather support Zevia than Pepsi or Coke on this one. Zevia is currently the only "diet soda replacement" that uses REAL STEVIA instead of something created in a lab.
Please get it right - Truvia is NOT stevia just like Splenda is NOT sugar.
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12-21-2008 @12:51AM Carla said... i love stevia!!! i am very excited about this because now i will not feel so guilty after drinking soda.
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12-22-2008 @9:18AM Deah said... I found a stevia plant at my local farmer's market a year or so ago. I was told to dry the leaves and gind them up before use. Tried it in iced tea a couple of times. It was OK, but not impressive. I do recall an after taste. Since the leaves don't disolve it didn't look appetizing floating around in my glass.
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12-23-2008 @5:27PM Bruce The BIG Desk said... I was just creating a post on Aspartame and came across the coke product. They're marketing it as Truvia. That's got to win a marketing award of some merit. It would take Coke to be able to market Truth and get away with it. Still - it seems like it may be a step in the right direction as far as sweeteners go.
Bruce
http://thebigdesk.com
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12-23-2008 @7:20PM NEVA said... Hi, I am a Diet Coke addict. I won't tell you how much I have drank in one day, but it's a lot. Yes, my kidney's are fine (amazingly!). I have done the splenda, which I liked. My thing is that I like fountain sodas (like 7-11/QT, etc). Any form of diet Coke tastes different in a bottle or can than from a fountain. I'm hoping that Coke with Stevia makes it to the fountain market and really soon, as the adverse effects of the apartame are tough. I know the best thing is to just back off the sodas completely, but any good addict knows how easy that is!! : ) DC addict in TX
q
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12-27-2008 @9:19PM Darth Chaos said... The FDA approved one compound of Stevia, not Stevia itself. Truvia is a man-made Stevie derivative. Truvia is not Stevia. Stevia is 100% all-natural. Truvia is 1% natural, 99% man-made.
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12-31-2008 @12:04PM James Cargill said... Sorry to say but the article and several of the comments are wrong . Stevia did NOT get approved by the FDA and there are no signs it will get that approval soon.
Many more food/health websites fell victim to Coca Cola's press release (I assume), but it's not Stevia that got approval - it's Truvia(tm)/Rebiana(tm), which is pure Rebaudioside A and not Stevia at all, which is a mixture of half a dozen steviol glycosides.
Please read this article for the details:
http://www.steviazone.org/stevia-still-banned-fda.html
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1-17-2009 @11:09AM Molly said... I have used the Now brand stevia for years. It does not have an aftertaste. I was/am hooked on Diet Coke, but the Nutrasweet/aspartame is very bad for me;creates blood pressure problems. I carry the packets of stevia with me and use it in tea or coffee. I was hoping Coca Cola would have it on the market this year. Oh well.
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2-02-2009 @5:17PM Jennifer said... I use Stevia Extract in the Raw from the makers of Sugar in the Raw. I absolutely love the taste of this. I use it in my tea and coffee and I bake with it too! It's all natural, no calorie. I actually purchase it online directly on the site. Check it out: www.steviaextractintheraw.com
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