FAQ

How does stevia compare to cane, beet or corn sugar?

Cane, beet and corn sugar (HFCS) as well as stevia are mass volume sweeteners that taste great, are economically priced and have a scalable supply. However, unlike the various sugars, stevia has the added advantage of contributing fewer calories to foods and beverages.

What are steviol glycosides?

Unless you want to chew on leaves, stevia needs to have its sweetness extracted from it. The sweet tasting components of the stevia plant which are extracted from the plant are called steviol glycosides. Steviol glycosides can be isolated and purified from the leaves of the stevia plant and can be up to 400 times sweeter than sucrose. Each steviol glycoside has a particular taste profile and sweetness intensity.

Is stevia safe?

Yes. There are more than 200 studies attesting to the safety of stevia for subjects of all ages. Additionally, all major global regulatory organizations including the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), have determined that there are no safety concerns with stevia.

How much stevia can someone safely consume?

Stevia leaf extracts are a mixture of sweetening compounds called steviol glycosides. In order to establish an acceptable daily intake for the mixture, safety studies calculate intake based on the common feature in the steviol glycosides – the steviol backbone. Therefore, the acceptable daily intake for stevia leaf extract has been established and adopted globally recognized safety studies as 2mg per pound of body weight expressed in steviol equivalents. Safety authorities, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), have calculated this intake level to include a substantially high (100 fold) safety margin. You can find more information about the calculation of daily intake here.

An adult weighing 130 pounds can consume an amount of stevia leaf extract with sweetening power equivalent to about 45 teaspoons of sugar a day, however, due to their lower weight, children reach the recommended daily intake faster than adults: a child that is half as heavy can safely consume half as much (approximately 22 teaspoons).

How does the body metabolize stevia?

Through a series of digestive processes, the body breaks down steviol glycosides (the form of stevia we eat) into steviol glucuronide. The steviol glucuronide is then removed from the body in the urine.

Stevia is a green leafed plant so, if Sweetly® Stevia were really 100% Natural, shouldn’t it be green?

Actually, the sweetener component of the plant is a crystal-white transparent color completely natural in the unaltered Stevia plant structure. These crystal-like substances actually sit on the surface of the leaf and are generated by the plant to cover its surface to protect the leaf underneath. You can think of these crystalline structures as stevia’s internal “sunscreen”. At Sweetly® Stevia, our patented water extraction process washes these crystals off the surface of the plant leaf. You can think of it as us giving our stevia a power shower!

Why don’t you use Xylitol or Sorbitol?

We don’t want to have to put a laxative warning on our product (we’re not kidding; check out the small print of products containing these sugar alcohols!). Our bodies do a poor job at digesting sugar alcohols (which is why they are lower in calories), and, as a result, these alcohols hang out in our intestines where they are fermented by colonic bacteria. The most common by-product of this fermentation is diarrhea but can also include cramping, gas and bloating.

How come Sweetly® Stevia comes in a granular form whilst most of the other stevias on the market are powdery?

Generally speaking these stevias tend to be extremely concentrated and have typically been chemically processed with things like Hexane and Aqueous Ethanol.

How is that Sweetly® Stevia genuinely tastes like sugar?

At Sweetly® Stevia we use a patented process that extracts the sugary goodness using only water. Having a patent means no-one else can use this process. Many other manufacturers use ethanol, methanol, or even rubbing alcohol to extract and purify. This not-so-natural process can result in a bitter after-taste.

I want to bring Sweetly® Stevia into my business. Where can I get it?

Awesome, you can contact us at: sales@sweetlysteviausa.com

Do you white-label your product?

Absolutely! Contact us and we can figure out a plan: sales@sweetlysteviausa.com

I have other questions, who can I contact?

Please, ask away! You can contact us at: sales@sweetlysteviausa.com