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?

It doesn't seem possible -- sugar-free honey? This is the first time I've ever heard of it! But according to Indian news source, Nerve, bees are able to produce sugar-free herbal honey by feeding on the leaves of the stevia plant. Stevia is marketed as natural sweetener, an alternative to sugar.

According to Nerve, sugar-free honey reduces cravings for sugar and fat, which appeals to people who don't want to gain weight but still want to enjoy the taste of honey. Additionally, sugar-free honey controls blood sugar levels and high blood pressure. Thus, it is in high demand by diabetics.

As was discussed on Slashfood recently, stevia is a great alternative to the White Demon, refined table sugar. One method of refining sugarcane involves a step where the liquid is filtered through a cattle bone charcoal mixture, with a little albumen thrown in. Not remotely vegan. While stevia is a good, strong, sweetener for that shade grown soy latte, you might also try: Brown Rice Syrup, less sweet than honey and bakes well. Sucanat, organic sugar cane juice with the essence of the sugarcane sans water. Sucanat is good in hot liquids, but lumps up oatmeal and is not ideal for baking. Maple Sugar/Maple Syrup, organic, pure, expensive, but worth it. Pure maple syrup is graded A-C, A being lightest, C the most robust and similar to restaurant grade corn syrup knockoffs. Nothing wrong with C, it's just meant to be the dominant flavor of the food.

Then, there's always Blackstrap molasses. Anyone who's trained with triathletes, especially in the '90s, knows that Blackstrap is believed to (lots of potassium, B vits.) help flush lactic acid from muscles and speed overall recovery from heavy exertion. Whatever your sweet needs, don't turn to the White Demon-- it's no good. Period. Check all this out, and more here.

Stevia is not a sweetener that is approved for use by the FDA. It is actually classified as a dietary supplement, an herb, that happens to be sweeter than sugar and can be - and is - used as a sweetener. It is all natural, has no calories (or carbs) and is getting more and more popular, though it makes up only a small portion of the non-sugar sweetener market.

Its popularity is due to an increased awareness for the product, thanks to well-placed advertisements and hard work on the part of the SweetLeaf Stevia brand's LA marketing firm, which has made sure that high end restaurants and even stores carry the product, prompting even more coverage from newspapers and magazines.

The only problem with Stevia, according to both the manufacturers and consumers, is that it is still hard to find. Not all stores carry it. Some stores, like Trader Joe's, try to make the product easily visible, but because it is an herb, it is often stocked in the supplements aisle in other stores, not in the section of the market with the sugars and sweeteners. Clearly this is not a huge setback, however, because the sales of the sweetener are steadily increasing. In the last year alone, they have increased almost 40%, though overall sales are only one tenth of the sales of Splenda, the top selling non-sugar sweetener.

If the interest in the product keeps growing at this rate - and it seems likely to - we could see Stevia become more widely available and used in more packaged products in place of artificial sugars.

 New studies show that preference for artificial sweeteners is based on a lack of extraneous flavors in the sweetener, not not the sweetness level of the substance. Thirteen sweeteners were rated according to how prevalent bitter, sour or metallic tastes were in them. Sugar was, not surprisingly, ranked the highest in the test. Sucralose, also known as Splenda, was the second most popular sweetener, with a "lack of noticeable sour and bitter tastes." Xylitol (a sweetener commonly used in chewing gum), aspartame (Equal and Nutra-Sweet), saccharine (Sweet N'Low) and Stevia were also ranked highly by tasters. Sugar is the standard when creating artificial sweeteners, so it makes sense that the products that tasted most like sugar would be the most popular.

What sweetener do you prefer when sugar isn't available?