Coca-cola And Cargill To Market Natural Sweetener, Good or Bad? Options

[Craig Minowa]

GOOD OR BAD?
TALK ABOUT IT IN OCA'S WEB FORUM
COCA-COLA AND CARGILL TO MARKET NATURAL SWEETENER
The beverage and food industries have sought the "perfect sweetener" for decades. It's no secret that standard table sugar (sucrose) and its even worse cousin, high-fructose corn syrup, rots teeth, leads to obesity, and is a major contributor to diabetes. So chemical companies have concocted an armada of synthetic sugar alternatives such as saccharin and aspartame that have been linked to everything from cancer to neurological disorders. Now Coca-Cola and Cargill have announced they have "developed" the perfect natural sweetener. The sweetener is stevia, a zero calorie plant-based sweetener that has been used for hundreds of years. In Japan, 40% of the sweeteners consumed are from stevia, so it can't really be called a "new" sweetener. But here in the U.S., likely due to lobbying of the FDA by synthetic sweetener producers, stevia has been hidden in the shadows by strange labeling requirements that keep the average consumer from even understanding what stevia can be used for. Coca-Cola and Cargill plan to bring a patented version of stevia to the mainstream as the perfect natural sweetener by removing some of the bitter aftertaste. Is this good news or bad news? What's your opinion? Share your thoughts in OCA's web forum. It's easy and quick to sign up and join the online organic community:
http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php

[naturekeene7]

It's about TIME! It's a GREAT thing, as long as Cargill doesn't mess around with stevia genetically! We've been waiting too long for the price to go down on it, and if they make it mainstream, it will be a blessing in disguise! The public will want it, and the price will finally go down.
Plus, when it finally becomes known as a sweetener, it will be used in everything, and America will collectively lose a million pounds in one year! (just an estimate! ha!)

[joniw]

I love stevia. Use it all the time. I don't find it to be particularly expensive, especially given how very little of it I need to use.

I find it impossible to believe that the formulation that coke & cargill market won't be all mixed up with nasty crap, so I can't get behind this. They're going to cut the sweetness with something... what might it be?

Nope. Not good.

[phyllis]

Trust Cargill to put out a product that is "natural" I think not! Stevia does not need any changes to its wholesome natural state and the botton line is Cargill's concern, not the health of the consumer...

[Tullyfields]

I too love stevia. We use it alot at our house. However I don't trust the greedy conventional corporations to do this right. I shudder to think what they will do to this natural plant to "take the bitter taste away". What chemicals will they use? Or will they go the GMO route? (IMG:http://organicconsumers.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[Fiona]

I have been using Stevia (liquid and powder) for years and find it very affordable and available. I use Wisdom Natural Brands out of Gilbert, Arizona. That Coca-Cola has announced they have "developed" the perfect natural sweetener is just more typical big business hype and manuevering. They haven't discovered anything new......the stevia plant has been around for thousands of years. That they will market it as something 'new' irks me. They are not in it for the health of the planet or the people. If they truly cared about people's health, they'd pull all their sugar-packed, tooth-destroying, empty caloric soft drinks that use up precious resources to produce and maintain and transport. On the other hand.......if it gets the mainstream public to switch to a healthier sweetener......I guess it can't be all bad.

[realsweetchick]

Stevia is a great natural alternative to the controversial artificial sweeteners like aspartame. I've heard that the makers of aspartame hold the U.S. patent on producing a stevia sweetener, but might want to mix it with aspartame or even worse - the new sweetener Neotame. Neotame was approved in the last few years by the FDA and unlike aspartame, it does not have to be listed, by law, on the ingredient label. What's that all about?

Anyway, Monsanto has been sitting on its stevia product patent for years now. That's why no one in the U.S. has produced the stevia sweetener products here. They're all imported, I believe.

Personally, I am all for using stevia to sweeten beverages, as long as there is no aspartame or Neotame in them as well. How will we ever know if they're putting in Neotame? It does not have to be on the label. And, it's 13,000 times sweeter than sucrose. The thing that makes Neotame different from aspartame? It has 3-3-dimethylbutyl added, which could be found on the EPA's list of most hazardous chemicals.

I vote 'yes' for organic, unadulterated stevia in beverages. I vote 'no way' for aspartame and Neotame with stevia in Diet sodas.

More importantly . . . I vote for the FDA to quickly approve stevia as a legally-approved, Generally Recognized as Safe, sweetener for use by everyone, not just Cargill and Coke.

Realsweetchick

[bonnie]

I love Stevia and am worried that a "patented version of stevia" won't be stevia at all.

[Probono.Biodiver...]

GOOD OR BAD?
TALK ABOUT IT IN OCA'S WEB FORUM
COCA-COLA AND CARGILL TO MARKET NATURAL SWEETENER
The beverage and food industries have sought the "perfect sweetener" for decades. It's no secret that standard table sugar (sucrose) and its even worse cousin, high-fructose corn syrup, rots teeth, leads to obesity, and is a major contributor to diabetes. So chemical companies have concocted an armada of synthetic sugar alternatives such as saccharin and aspartame that have been linked to everything from cancer to neurological disorders. Now Coca-Cola and Cargill have announced they have "developed" the perfect natural sweetener. The sweetener is stevia, a zero calorie plant-based sweetener that has been used for hundreds of years. In Japan, 40% of the sweeteners consumed are from stevia, so it can't really be called a "new" sweetener. But here in the U.S., likely due to lobbying of the FDA by synthetic sweetener producers, stevia has been hidden in the shadows by strange labeling requirements that keep the average consumer from even understanding what stevia can be used for. Coca-Cola and Cargill plan to bring a patented version of stevia to the mainstream as the perfect natural sweetener by removing some of the bitter aftertaste. Is this good news or bad news? What's your opinion? Share your thoughts in OCA's web forum. It's easy and quick to sign up and join the online organic community:
http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php

Stevia has no bitter aftertaste. It's a lie by the monopolists who want to exclude the natives, product from Uruguay.
Indians of Uruguay please chase away whiteskins at the end of a barrel of a gun like Bolivia did when they tried to force the people to pay for free water.

[katesisco]

[font="Comic Sans MS"][/font][color="#483D8B"][/color]
I use Stevia also. I make lemonade and use about 3/4 tsp to a cup of lemon juice and water to make. I also wonder just what Monsanto has up their chemical sleeve. Nothing so simple as unadulterated Stevia I'm sure. Remember the first rule of corp: Everything has to make money. So if they use Stevia where is the other chemical trash going? to waste----never!!!! Probably like other posters have suggested it will include some form of artificial sweetner along with Stevia. If we could get the Stevia product would we buy the chemical additive one?----------------I guess not!!!!!!!!!!!

I suspect, with what little I know of corps, that the actual amount of Stevia is going to be about 10% and the artificial sweetner 90%.

[vegnik]

<b>
I love stevia, use it a lot, and would like it to be better known and more widely used, but am very suspicious of big, greedy, profit-driven, imperialist, sociopathic, soulless corps.
</b>

[Gwen]

<b>
I love stevia, use it a lot, and would like it to be better known and more widely used, but am very suspicious of big, greedy, profit-driven, imperialist, sociopathic, soulless corps.
</b>

I may not be "sure" of much in this world. One thing of which I am positive is,when corporate has a hand in anything the result is not in anyone's best interest, except corporate.

[TripleS]

This may be dated, but I understand that Stevia is sold in the US as a supplement because FDA approval as a sweetener has been (at least in the past) hampered by the big sugar substitute producers.

I use Stevia daily and believe it should readily available to the general public. That said, I agree with the concerns of the other posters. It seems obscene that Coca-cola and Cargill can repackage an existing ancient product, nearly perfect in its unadulterated, natural form.

[Chriss]

I found stevia about 8 months ago and read extensivly the tragedies that have befallen the suppliers of stevia and <gasp> their cook books. I now grow stevia in my herb garden infact, I love the fact that it is so cute and my kids love to eat the flowers. I eat it for the fiber and nutrients, but they love it for it's sweetness. I would like to see it used in one of this country's most largly used soft drink. Trouble is I fear for it's safty. Round-up ready stevia is probably where it is headed and I think that with all the processing and refining out the "aftertaste" will strip the lovely health benifits of this ancient plant. Mixed feelings here. Diabetics would benifit though. (IMG:http://organicconsumers.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[blueaqua4]

As the mother of a 4 yr old type 1 diabetic I use stevia all the time. I agree that this is only good if they don't add any of the other chemicals and crap to it. It would really be great to see products sweetened with stevia as it would greatly benefit anyone with either type of diabetes. Especially those who have developed the disease not from poor choices and habits. Even with sugar not being good for you, it is still far better for us then all of the artificial sweeteners out there. Take for instance splenda, one of the possible side effects of ingesting splenda products is seizures. I have found that a great use for aspartame is for an ant killer. Open a packet of sweet-n-low and poor it where you have an ant problem and it gets rid of that ants and keeps them away. Makes you think twice about ingesting it. I'm all for Stevia being used more by the public, but only if it is truly stevia. (IMG:http://organicconsumers.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[debdo11]

I will not trust their new stevia. Stevia has been around for centuries. Stevia is not new and is a natural plant. I don't know what they plan to patent but I don't think you can patent a plant that has grown wild and natural for hundreds of years. Personally I don't know how they can even patent this product using the name stevia. They must be doing some alterations in the plant and I would like to know what they are.?? (IMG:http://organicconsumers.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[benbrooklyn]

yeah, i guess like all the other posters i am concerned with this. i mean, cargill and coke? these guys sell garbage to make money. to think that they have any health concerns in mind at all is ridiculous. whatever theydo end up doing with the stevia, it will most assuredly NOT be like the stevia most of us are used to having. we're all talking about putting a little stevia in iced teas and stuff occasionally. coke's application will be loading can after can with it. like anything else, stevia probably is not meant to be ingested in such massive quatities. it reminds me a bit of the whole flax, or even soy, thing. neither soy nor flax should be taken in THE MANNER in wich many in the 'health' community take them, i.e. baking with flax, unfermented soy products, etc.
i do have to say tho that i am actually going to try this steviacoke when it actually comes out. know your enemy

[debdo11]

This may be dated, but I understand that Stevia is sold in the US as a supplement because FDA approval as a sweetener has been (at least in the past) hampered by the big sugar substitute producers.

I use Stevia daily and believe it should readily available to the general public. That said, I agree with the concerns of the other posters. It seems obscene that Coca-cola and Cargill can repackage an existing ancient product, nearly perfect in its unadulterated, natural form.

Yes, the FDA has not approved this as a sweetener and has blocked it in many ways to being available. Now all of sudden it is safe and going to used by Coke and Cargill, INTERESTING!!!

[debdo11]

I have been using Stevia (liquid and powder) for years and find it very affordable and available. I use Wisdom Natural Brands out of Gilbert, Arizona. That Coca-Cola has announced they have "developed" the perfect natural sweetener is just more typical big business hype and manuevering. They haven't discovered anything new......the stevia plant has been around for thousands of years. That they will market it as something 'new' irks me. They are not in it for the health of the planet or the people. If they truly cared about people's health, they'd pull all their sugar-packed, tooth-destroying, empty caloric soft drinks that use up precious resources to produce and maintain and transport. On the other hand.......if it gets the mainstream public to switch to a healthier sweetener......I guess it can't be all bad.

The problem is that the stevia that they will introduce will probably not be pure stevia. It can't be. FDA for years has been saying that stevia is not good for you. That is not true but that is what they have said to keep it out the market. I think they will alter the plant somehow.

[hired help]

[quote name='Chriss' date='Aug 11 2007, 01:04 AM' post='640']
I found stevia about 8 months ago and read extensivly the tragedies that have befallen the suppliers of stevia and <gasp> their cook books. I now grow stevia in my herb garden infact, I love the fact that it is so cute and my kids love to eat the flowers. I eat it for the fiber and nutrients, but they love it for it's sweetness.

By the time I got my seed order in, which was pretty early, Fedco was all sold out of stevia seed. I'm curious about how it grows, what climate/growing season? Pests? What about harvest - dry it? Steep it? And what about cookbooks? Are there recipes for use? I'd sure like an alternative to the sugar I use in jam, also in a nice drink I make called raspberry shrug.
As far as Coke and Cargill go, I wouldn't buy their products even if they could prove to my satisfaction that they were 100% organic.