As we said two years ago when we heard grumblings that Cargill and Pepsi (sorry, Cocoa Cola) were teaming up to bring stevia to the mass market, we were happy, yet skeptical. While it is wonderful that the FDA will soon approve stevia as a food (not just a dietary supplement) because of Cargill's product, Truvia, it is also a big bummer. Our hopes that the product would be pure stevia were dashed when Cargill's website showed that erthyritol, a corn-based alternative sweetener, was also included as an ingredient.
http://www.truvia.com/ingredients.html
Once again, Big food disappoints. But of course. Cargill needed to add the erythritol to the product so it could not be reproduced by competition. Erythritol is a patented Cargill sweetener.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this sweetener to many of my clients because of corn-sensitivities and potential gastrointestinal disturbances. Luckily, the Sweet Leaf's of the world are still around. I hope they are not gobbled up or destroyed by the Cargill machine.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
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10 comments:
First, everyone should know that SweetLeaf beat Cargill to the punch by launching its new SweetLeaf Sweetener last month. More importantly, the SweetLeaf product is 100% natural, with no adulteration. Sure, it's not patentable, but maybe that's a good thing. Plus, SweetLeaf's product sets the REAL bar for the new war between Stevia-based sweeteners -- it's all natural, and has zero calories, zero carbs AND zero glycemic index. Cargill's can't make that claim. But it's up to consumers to keep the SweetLeafs of the world alive. Blogs like yours (thank you) keep the dream of a real alternative to artificial sweeteners alive. It'd be nice to see the little guy win.
Not only does Truvia use Erythritol, but they also use "natural flavors". If their "rebiana" is supposed to be the best tasting and consistent stevia based sweetener on the market, why do they have to add some unidentified "natural flavors" to their product. The answer is obvious. Their rebiana and erythritol blend does not taste nearly as sweet as the new sweetleaf sweetener and they need to mask the after-taste of their product.
The information stated in the original post and the comments are all inaccurate. I am not sure who first posted this, but they obviously did not do their research.
First of all- the product is NOT developed by Cargill and Pepsi- it is by Cargill and Coca Cola. Sure this doesn't make a difference but it shows how much research was done prior to posting this blog- that is one of the most published information out there.
Secondly, Cargill's Truvia DOES NOT use erythritol- only their table top available to consumers. And erythritol is a 100% naturally occuring sweetener (www.zerosesweetener.com) and they also sell an organic grade. It is used as a bulking agent for the Rebiana (part of the Stevia plant). Cargill and Coca Cola have developed an efficient way to grow REBIANA- one part of the Stevia leaf. Check out www.allaboutrebiana.com- that is what Cargill and Coca Cola have developed. It is a Naturally Occuring part of the leaf and the only part extracted. Unlike crude stevia (like Sweetleaf), this product is the best tasting part of the Stevia leaf and it is amazing that CocaCola and Cargill have been able to maximize this part of the plant.
Rebiana (like I said, one part of the stevia plant) actually has signficantly less of an aftertaste than crude stevia and tastes great. The Truvia that is put into food products as an ingredient (not their tabletop) does not contain ANY erythritol and is still the best tasting part of the plant. Since stevia is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, ALL table top versions of this product have to have some bulking agent- and Truvia tabletop's is erythritol. Not to be confused with the ingredient Truvia, which only comes from Stevia.
Being a long term food researcher and developer of products, without a doubt, the Rebiana and Truvia is a far better product than crude Stevia. This product will change the future of the food industry.
It states on Truvia's website that erythritol is one of the ingredients in Truvia.
http://www.truvia.com/ingredients.html
Would they lie about their own product?
No matter how you cut it, Erythritol is chemically altered, so you can label it natural, organic, or whatever you'd. Everybody else does it.
Lastly, it is corn-based, which we do not recommend for our clientele.
They aren't lying. All you have to do is read thoroughly- there is a lot more information on those pages than what is posted on these blogs.
Read under their FAQ website;
http://www.truvia.com/FAQ.html#faq3
The product with Erythritol is strictly their tabletop. Just like Splenda-- Splenda's tabletop is mixed with maltodextrin for a bulking agent, however, their raw ingredient found in the foods with Splenda is strictly sucrolose. You could not put pure Rebiana (the best tasting part of stevia) into a packet without a bulking agent, as it is 250 times sweeter than sugar. But the Truvia sold as an INGREDIENT is pure Rebiana- no erythritol in there.
Read how erythritol is made as well on the FAQ page; "Erythritol has been part of the human diet for thousands of years. It exists naturally in fruits such as pears, melons and grapes, and in popular fermented foods such as wine, soy sauce, beer and cheese. It can be produced from a variety of carbohydrate sources such as sucrose (sugar). The carbohydrate is mixed with water and fermented with a natural culture, similar to how yogurt is made from milk. (In yogurt, dairy cultures are used; in erythritol, cultures from fresh pollen in a honeycomb.) It is then filtered, crystallized and dried resulting in a final product that’s 99.5 percent pure. Because erythritol occurs naturally and is produced naturally, it is very different from artificial sweeteners like sucralose or aspartame."
The organic grade is made with organic cane sugar. And the USDA actually does have very strict guidelines for organic (www.usda.gov). While this is not true for natural foods, they are very strict on organic ingredients. Erythritol has been used for hundreds of years and is found in a number of organic food products.
And Erythritol is not chemically altered; the USDA does not approve organic certification if it is.
Unlike natural claims- which is not certified or audited by the USDA- erythritol processing is not chemically altered. It is naturally occuring in many foods you eat today.
They made a mistake by putting it into the tabletop. It is the product most customers will identify with. Many of my clients have major digestive issues from polyols. Corn, fermentation, yeast = awful.
Sweeteners (who is obviously an employee of Cargill or Zerose) is still putting his or her "spin" on the true facts. And of course he never speaks of the SweetLeaf Sweetener product. Why? Because there is no comparison. Unlike Cargill's Rebiana, SweetLeaf Sweetener is extracted using nothing but pure water. Cargill takes a first stage CHINESE extract from CHINESE stevia leaves, then they send it to the Pure Circle laboratories in Malaysia for the final extraction process. They ELUTE their raw extract with alcohol and then they use methanol (wood alcohol or funny car or dragster fuel) to "purify" their extract. That is the only way they can get the higher percentages of Reb A. They are not growing some "special" stevia leaves. They just take the standard CHINESE leaves and treat them with chemicals to get their final product. Then they have the Gaul to call their Truvia product "natural." There is nothing natural about it. And just so you know I speak the truth, the Cargll and Coke scientists published an article about how they make their Rebiana in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. The article is called "Development of rebiana, a natural, non-caloric sweetener" by I. Prakash (Coca Cola), et al. Everyone who wants to know the truth about Truvia should read this. Good luck responding to this Sweeteners.
I would just like to add that the added erythritol in Stevia-based sweeteners has had a NEGATIVE effect on myself. I have been using the Trader Joe's stevia bottles (no erythritol added, only lactose) for several months with no adverse side effects. Recently I started using Truvia (a sweetener that DOES use erythritol to pad the Stevia extract) and I finally linked my skin break-out condition to using Truvia. I break out anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after taking one packet, my skin turning blotchy and red, like I'm breaking out in hives. Others seem to share this condition as I've read about similar cases through internet browsing.
Unfortunately I do not have a Trader Joe's in my neighborhood...so lucky me, I get to subsist on Truvia or Purevia until a brand name company can drop the erythritol from their products and market closer to a pure stevia substitute. Or maybe someone will market a 100% stevia powder. Please...enough with the additions, regardless of whether they are organic or naturally derived--they can still cause reactions and other problems -->Erythritol.
Erythritol has been found to have other adverse side effects after I read some articles about Truvia, so I know I am not alone. It's really disappointing too. I was hoping trying Truvia would be a nice replacement. I may try Purevia because it has only 1g of erythritol, while Truvia uses 3g. Maybe that will make the difference...I'll find out soon enough.
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