Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

[Guest guest]

Stevia is not the only thing that is now banned in Europe. The comments I heard

even last year sound more like it is a battle between the people who sell herbs

and the drug manufaturers.

Stevia is banned in Europe

My friend told me last night that her doctor told her that Stevia is

banned in Europe and not to use it.

I googled and found this information. (below)

My tenative conclusion is that if you use Stevia, use the dried leaf or

use a green powder that is simply the dried leaf ground up. Do NOT use

the white refined powder. It's possible that the leaf is no good

either, so don't overdo it.

Here's the info I found. Comments welcome, of course!

- Tamara

http://diabetestype2.writedoc.com/diary/supplements/2003/2003.htm

Stevia is banned in Europe because it is believed to cause DNA

mutations, see http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf/out34_en.pdf

and http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf/out36_en.pdf.

On balance, it would seem advisable to avoid Stevia (along with all

artificial sweetners); also see the Nutrition Action Healthletter

article on Stevia.

http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/webpage/stevia

Stevia and Stevioside

Wednesday 27 March 2002

Stevioside is a high intensity sweetener, 250-300 times sweeter than

sucrose.

It is isolated and purified from the leaves of the Stevia plant (Stevia

rebaudiana Bertoni), where it is present at levels up to 13%, and has

been used for a number of years as a sweetener in South America, Asia,

Japan and China.

As a result of the outcome of safety assessments which have been

carried out Stevia and stevioside are not permitted for sale as food or

food ingredients in the UK or elsewhere within the EU.

Safety Evaluations

Sweeteners and other food additives are tightly regulated within the

European Union (EU) and may only be used once their safety has been

rigorously assessed.

The EC Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) is an independent committee

that advises the European Commission on questions concerning consumer

health and food safety, in particular relating to toxicology and food

hygiene.

The SCF identified safety problems with stevioside and recently

rejected applications to market the plant and its products as

sweeteners and as novel foods within the European Union.

Stevioside was first considered by the SCF for approval for use as a

sweetener within the EU in 1985 and the review was updated in 1989.

On both occasions the Committee raised several questions of concern and

concluded that, based on the submitted documentation, it could not

accept its use. Extracts from Stevia rebaudiana leaves were also

considered as toxicologically not acceptable.

A further application for approval of stevioside was received by the

European Commission in 1998 and again referred to the SCF.

The data considered by the Committee indicated that the extract has the

potential to produce adverse effects in the male reproductive system

that could affect fertility and that a metabolite produced by the human

gut microflora, steviol, is genotoxic (ie. damages DNA).

The Committee concluded that stevioside was not acceptable as a

sweetener.

In 1998 a request was made for Stevia (the plants and dried leaves of

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) to be marketed as a novel food under the EU

novel foods legislation (Regulation 258/97(EC)).

The application was initially evaluated by the Belgian Authorities who

recommended that the product should not be approved.

The product was then considered in the UK by the Advisory Committee on

Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) as part of the approval process for

novel foods.

The ACNFP agreed with the opinion of the Belgian Authorities and

recommended that the product should not be approved due to lack of

information supporting its safety, a view that was shared by a number

of other Member States. The application was subsequently referred to

the SCF.

The SCF concluded in June 1999 that the information submitted on the

plant products was insufficient with regard to specification and

standardisation of the commercial product and contained no safety

studies.

There was no satisfactory data to support the safe use of these

products as ingredients in food or as sucrose substitutes.

In December 1999 the Joint MAFF/DH Food Safety and Standards Group

wrote to various companies known to be trading in Stevia products,

informing them of the SCF's opinion and stating that Stevia should not

be offered for sale as a food or food ingredient in the UK.

A copy of the SCF's opinion on Stevia as a sweetener and its opinion on

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plants and leaves is available at the link

below.

http://www.foodforyourblood.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/1/835.html

The information in the archive was published by MAFF, Department of

Health and the ish Executive before April 1st 2000 when the Food

Standards Agency was established.

MAFF logo

Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes

Evaluation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni as a novel food

Dr F Campoli

DGIII/E/i

Rue de la Loi

B-1049 Brussels

Belgium

19 October 1998

Dear Mr Campoli

Evaluation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni as a novel food

The UK Competent Authority has examined the opinion from the Belgian CA

on this application and agrees with the conclusion they reached, that

the data provided are inadequate to support approval of this material

as a novel food. We share their concerns regarding this application and

note particularly the lack of information on:-

i) the estimates of likely intake of the material;

ii) the specification for the material, which is inadequate,

particularly in terms of the level of stevioside. We would normally

expect to see the results of analyses of at least three batches of

material to demonstrate that the material to be sold is of a consistent

composition;

iii) the extent to which the active component stevioside is metabolised

by human gut bacteria and the possible toxicological consequences of

such metabolism.

We also note that the active component stevioside has been evaluated

previously by both the EC Scientific Committee for Food and also by the

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (earlier this year)

and that both have concluded that the toxicological data available were

inadequate.

After our expert advisory committee had examined the opinion of the

Belgian CA, we received the additional information contained in a

revised application from Prof Dr J M C Geuns, that was circulated with

the papers for the Standing Committee meeting on 28/29 October. We

assume that submission of these additional data will now result in all

the information being referred to the Scientific Committee for Food, as

laid down in the provisisons of the Novel Food Regulation. However we

would make the following points about the additional information

provided:

i) the specification and analytical data are still not adequate to

provide reassurance that this is a consistent product;

ii) many of the studies quoted on page 12 of the revised document are

conducted on " Stevia extract " but the composition of this extract is

not described;

iii) the subacute and chronic toxicity studies are conducted on

stevioside rather than the dried plant material and there is still a

lack of evidence on the extent to which stevioside present in the dried

plant material might be metabolised by human gut flora and the

toxicological consequences of this in terms of the formation of

steviol.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this application at the Standing

Committee for Foodstuffs meeting on 29 October.

Yours sincerely

Mrs S J Hattersley

UK Competant Authority (EU Regulation 258/97)

Copied to:

Dr A Klepsch

Mr N Tomlinson

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

You can get stevia over here.

I have details of a lady who sells it.

I have looked into all this before and feel it is more the drug companies not

wanting it in than anything else - the drug companies have a stranglehold on

most things here.

)

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[Guest guest]

I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

Sharon (Ontario) Canada

Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

> You can get stevia over here.

> I have details of a lady who sells it.

> I have looked into all this before and feel it is more the drug companies

> not wanting it in than anything else - the drug companies have a

> stranglehold on most things here.

>

> )

>

> http://www.freewebs.com/inspire/

> http://www.freewebs.com/amiva/ - dogs!

>

>

>

> --

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> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users.

> It has removed 157 spam emails to date.

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[Guest guest]

>>I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

Sharon (Ontario) Canada

**Yes, this was talking about in Europe.

It is not liscensed in the U.K. and so cannot be bought or sold in any shops.

)

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/25/2006 9:58:05 AM Eastern Standard Time,

sharonferris@... writes:

I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

LOL--I think you missed the thread unless Canada has been towed to Europe.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/25/2006 12:42:17 PM Eastern Standard Time,

meand@... writes:

Some time ago I tried Stevia powder and found it made me feel nauseated

It is an avoid for non-secreters. I never liked it either.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the info, Tamara.

Some time ago I tried Stevia powder and found it made me feel nauseated

(sp?). So i stopped using it.

I wonder what the scoop is on Xylitol. I have switched to that and like it a

lot.

Emmi

[Guest guest]

>

> >>I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

>

> Sharon (Ontario) Canada

>

> **Yes, this was talking about in Europe.

> It is not liscensed in the U.K. and so cannot be bought or sold

in any shops.

>

> )

Whether or not you are able to buy it, what is your opinion on whether

stevia is harmful or not???

Me, I will stop using the refined white powder and only use the whole

leaves or the green powdered leaves that have not been processed. I

had been using the refined white powder and feel suspicious of that now.

- T

[Guest guest]

Not yet. LOL

I just meant that it is easy to get here.

Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

> In a message dated 3/25/2006 9:58:05 AM Eastern Standard Time,

> sharonferris@... writes:

> I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

>

> LOL--I think you missed the thread unless Canada has been towed to Europe.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I still have a lot of that fine white powder left and I will use it up. The

green is not as refined and even tastes like tea. It sure was an odd taste when

I tried it once in coffee, and even odder in unsweetened cocoa.

Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

>

> >>I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

>

> Sharon (Ontario) Canada

>

> **Yes, this was talking about in Europe.

> It is not liscensed in the U.K. and so cannot be bought or sold

in any shops.

>

> )

Whether or not you are able to buy it, what is your opinion on whether

stevia is harmful or not???

Me, I will stop using the refined white powder and only use the whole

leaves or the green powdered leaves that have not been processed. I

had been using the refined white powder and feel suspicious of that now.

- T

[Guest guest]

Maybe Canada and UK have similar drug and herb laws.

Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

In a message dated 3/25/2006 9:58:05 AM Eastern Standard Time,

sharonferris@... writes:

I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

LOL--I think you missed the thread unless Canada has been towed to Europe.

[Guest guest]

No, . There is no connection at all. Our laws are probably closer to

the U.S.'s because we are dominated by the same large pharmaceutical

companies.

Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

>

>

> In a message dated 3/25/2006 9:58:05 AM Eastern Standard Time,

> sharonferris@... writes:

> I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

>

> LOL--I think you missed the thread unless Canada has been towed to

> Europe.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I bought stevia plants at the greenhouse near where I live (Canada). I grew it

in my flowerbed. I didn't dry the plants but my grandson (7yrs) loved chewing

on the fresh leaves.

Sharon Ferris <sharonferris@...> wrote: I can buy Stevia in the HFS.

Sharon (Ontario) Canada

Re: Stevia is banned in Europe

> You can get stevia over here.

> I have details of a lady who sells it.

> I have looked into all this before and feel it is more the drug companies

> not wanting it in than anything else - the drug companies have a

> stranglehold on most things here.

>

> )

>

> http://www.freewebs.com/inspire/

> http://www.freewebs.com/amiva/ - dogs!

>

>

>

> --

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> It has removed 157 spam emails to date.

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>

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