What is Rebiana
The Stevia Plant
Truvia™ Natural Sweetener
FAQ
Research

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Truvia™ natural sweetener?

Truvia™ (pronounced Tru-VEE-a) is the brand name for the first great-tasting, natural, zero-calorie sweetener made from rebiana, the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf. Cargill has worked for years to develop Truvia™ natural sweetener in response to consumer demand for a natural, zero-calorie way to sweeten foods and beverages. Unlike stevia used in dietary supplements, which typically refers to a mixture of many components from the stevia leaf, rebiana is a fully characterized product that is consistent in quality.

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What makes Truvia™ natural sweetener different from any other sweetener available today?

Prior to the introduction of Truvia™ natural sweetener, no one knew how to isolate the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf, then turn it into a consistently great-tasting, high-quality sweetener.

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Are Truvia™ natural sweetener, rebiana and stevia all the same thing?

No. Truvia™ is the brand name for the sweetener product to be commercialized by Cargill. Rebiana is the common or usual name for the new extract derived from the stevia plant that is contained in Truvia™. "Stevia" is used either to describe the stevia plant or to loosely describe various products derived from the stevia plant.


Both stevia and rebiana come from the leaves of the stevia plant. However, rebiana, developed by Cargill, is a high-purity, fully characterized and consistent product that comes from the best-tasting components of the stevia leaf. Stevia, as used in many dietary supplements, typically refers to a crude preparation from the leaves of the stevia plant, which contain a mixture of many components, not just those that give a sweet taste to the leaf.

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How is Truvia™ natural sweetener processed from stevia leaves?

Rebiana begins with a leaf, not in a lab. Stevia leaves are harvested and dried, and are steeped in fresh water in a process similar to that of making tea. This unlocks the best-tasting part of the leaf, which is then purified to make a food-grade product. The finished product is the pure sweetness of rebiana.

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Is Truvia™ natural sweetener organic?

No. While rebiana comes from a plant, it is not certified or grown organically at this time.

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What are the benefits of Truvia™ natural sweetener?

Truvia™ natural sweetener is great tasting, natural and has zero calories. Because it has no calories, it allows consumers to satisfy their taste for sweetness without increasing the calories in their diet.

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How is stevia used around the world?

The stevia plant, a shrub in the chrysanthemum family native to Paraguay, was discovered more than 200 years ago by the Guarani natives who used the leaves to sweeten drinks. Japan has been using stevia commercially for more than three decades, and today, stevia represents 40 percent of the country’s low- or zero-calorie sweetener market. Stevia is found on grocery store shelves in Asia and South America in products such as yogurts, teas and pickled foods.

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What's the benefit of natural versus artificial sweeteners?

This is mostly a matter of personal choice and personal taste. Many consumers prefer the taste and origin of a natural sweetener, such as stevia or now rebiana, to the artificial sweeteners on the market today. Rebiana is a great-tasting, natural, zero-calorie sweetener that has the potential to lower the caloric count of many popular foods and beverages.

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Can rebiana be used in baking or in products that require a longer shelf life?

Ingredient formulation work for a wide variety of food and beverage applications is being explored. Rebiana is shelf-stable and holds great promise for use in baking products, dairy, yogurt, as well as beverages.

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What is erythritol?

Erythritol is an all-natural, non-caloric sweetener. It is a polyol, or sugar alcohol, a hydrogenated carbohydrate found naturally in various fruits and vegetables. Because the molecules of polyols share certain structural characteristics with both carbohydrates and alcohol they are also known as "sugar alcohols." Erythritol is an odorless, white crystalline powder with a clean, sweet taste that is similar to sucrose. Since 1990, erythritol has been commercially produced and added to foods and beverages to provide sweetness, as well as enhance taste and texture.

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How erythritol is made.

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. 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.

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What are the health and nutrition benefits of erythritol?

Suitable for people with diabetes:
Single dose and 14-day clinical studies demonstrate erythritol does not affect blood serum glucose or insulin levels. Clinical studies conducted in people with diabetes conclude that erythritol may be safely used to replace sucrose in food formulated specifically for people with diabetes.


Does not cause tooth decay:
Erythritol, like other polyols is non-cariogenic: the bacteria responsible for tooth decay are unable to use erythritol as a fuel source.


High digestive tolerance:
Erythritol is rapidly absorbed in the small intestine due to its small molecular size and structure. Several clinical studies conducted in Europe and Japan have shown that more than 90 percent of ingested erythritol is absorbed and excreted unchanged in urine within a 24-hour period. This digestive pathway allows less than 5 percent of ingested erythritol to reach the large intestine and be fermented into volatile fatty acids or metabolized into carbon dioxide. As a result, foods containing erythritol are unlikely to cause gaseous or laxation side effects.


Antioxidant properties:
In vitro data have shown that erythritol is able to neutralize free radicals that are responsible for cellular damage.

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