Truvia Sweetener Debuts in United States

Truvia, a new natural no-calorie sweetener developed by a joint collaboration of Cargill and The Coca Cola Company, has been launched in the US. The product is available online at Truvia.com, and is also available in a few select supermarkets in New York. Cargill plans to introduce Truvia across the rest of the country this fall.

The sweetener is made from rebiana, the compound in the stevia plant that has the sweetest taste. Truvia thus differs from earlier stevia-based products that included a mix of several stevia compounds in their base. The mix of compounds led to a bitter licorice-like after taste in the mouth, and with this new product, Cargill claims to deliver a pure sweetener that has no unpleasant after taste. All that pure natural sweetness is slightly pricey. A box of 40 sachets can set you back by $3.99.

Stevia-based products are popular in Asian countries like Japan, where they are found in food and beverage products, but the US has only allowed these products to be promoted as dietary supplements within its borders. With Truvia, Cargill can claim to have the first freely available table top sweetener based on stevia extracts. The company also plans to expand applications for stevia usage across the food and beverage industry. Over the next 12 months, you can expect to find Truvia added to cereals and yoghurt, giving health conscious consumers a wider variety of natural sweetener-added products to choose from.

Even with the FDA’s earlier concerns about stevia’s safety, Truvia is expected to be a success, in a market that has no natural, great tasting, zero calorie alternatives to sugar. Other companies, including Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo, have also announced their plans to develop stevia based sweeteners. With all that choice, consumers are set for a sweet choice in sweeteners over the next year or so.

Comments

One Response to “Truvia Sweetener Debuts in United States”

  1. deirdre wear on December 27th, 2011 9:48 pm

    stop greenwashing this crap the process for extracting the rebiana is laden with toxic chemical processes…… Natural flavors ? Rubbish more toxic crap they are too ashamed of to even reveal GET REAL GET STEVIA

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