The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health has voted in favor of the Commission proposal to authorize stevia (steviol glycosides) as a sweetener in Europe. The move was widely expected as the European Food Safety Authority has earlier established that stevia is safe for all populations to consume and are a suitable sweetening option for people with diabetes.As a next step in the regulatory approval process for steviol glycosides, the Commission regulation will be sent to the European Parliament for scrutiny. European-wide approval of the natural and calorie free sweetener is expected during the autumn 2011.

“The Commission’s decision is a pivotal and welcome step forward in the approval process of stevia as a sweetener throughout the EU. While awaiting EU approval, many companies in the European food and beverage industry have already developed products sweetened by stevia,” Carl Horn af Rantzien, MD of The Real Stevia Company and director of the International Stevia Council says.

Steviol glycosides (purified stevia extracts) come from the stevia plant, a small herb native to South America, whose leaves have been used for centuries by native Indians to sweeten food and drinks. Stevia extracts can be used to replace artificial sweeteners and sugar in a wide range of food and beverage applications. It already has approval in Japan and the US.