Truvia, the latest non-nutritive sweetener

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what is the best non-nutritive sweetener of all??? Cargill and Coca Cola would like you to think it is rebiana, a "natural" zero-calorie sweetener derived from the leaves of the stevia plant. They jointly developed the product that will go on the market this year under the brand name, Truvia.

First, there was saccharin; then aspartame (Brand name: Nutrasweet); then sucralose (Brand name: Splenda); now rebiana (Brand name: Truvia), a term used for "the best-tasting components of the stevia plant." In May, Cargill introduced Truvia as the first natural, zero-calorie sweetener. Truvia apparently does not have an unpleasant aftertaste often associated with non-nutritient sweeteners.

Quoting an article in "Beverage Industry," stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a plant related to chrysanthemum that is native to Paraguay, but commercially grown today primarily in China. Leaves from the stevia shrub are harvested and dried, then steeped in water in a process similar to making tea. The process releases the 'best tasting part of the leaf,' which is then purified to make a food grade ingredient called rebiana, which is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar. The natural sweetener is heat and pH stable, so that it can be used across an array of beverage and food products.