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The San Diego Union-Tribune

More research needed on natural sweetener


December 6, 2005

PRODUCT: SweetLeaf SteviaPlus, $6.99 for 50 packets; $11.99 for 100.

KEY INGREDIENTS: The herb stevia rebaudiana, a naturally sweet plant.

THE PITCH: A natural zero-calorie sweetener.

HOW IT WORKS: The herb has a very sweet taste.

PROS: Contains no chemicals such as sucralose or aspartame, which are in sweeteners like Splenda, Equal and Sweet'N Low. It is 10 times sweeter than sugar, so a little goes a long way.

CONS: It isn't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a food additive; it's sold as a dietary supplement, a largely unregulated category. In one study, male rats fed high doses of the sweetener for 22 months produced fewer sperm and had increased cell proliferation in their testicles. In another, female hamsters fed large amounts had fewer and smaller offspring.

It's not known whether the sweetener affects people the same way. Researchers have found that the main ingredient in stevia can be converted in the lab to a compound that causes changes in genes, which might lead to cancer, although more study is needed to see if this could occur in people, according to a report by The Center for Science in the Public Interest.

BOTTOM LINE: Needs more testing. Just because it's natural doesn't make it safe. There's not enough research to show that consuming large amounts is safe.

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