I use the stevia leaf a lot. It tastes much nicer than the powder/extract.

As to the OP question, stevia is a plant, and the leaf is good as a
sweetener with no processing (except drying, like any herb). The
extract/powder isn't hard to make, and I don't think it's patentable.

So there's no way to make much money selling stevia products. It's kind of a
spoiler for Splenda, Nutra-Sweet, etc. It could cut their market, but no one
company could make much money from it, because anyone could grow and sell
it.

So there's no reason for any big company to spend a lot of money getting it
approved by the FDA, but much reason for the manufacturers of Splenda etc to
spend money to keep it from being approved. (I don't mean by bribing the
FDA, but by funding studies to look for dangers and to test for safety. In
order to be approved, a product has to run a lot of expensive tests to prove
it is safe.)

Skinny

Stevia No Longer Banned in Europe
Aspartame:  Rats Jump NutraShip
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2004 7:56 PM

A meeting  in Geneva June 8 - 17, of the Joint FAQ/WHO Expert Committee on
Food Additives was held  to evaluate certain food additives, ingredients,
and flavouring agents.

It was decided that Steviol glycosides be approved.  and orders to England
are no longer being confiscated.
A study is pending to make sure it doesn't lower blood sugar in
non-diabetics.
Stevia has always been known  to help in the metabolism of sugar, thus
being
beneficial to diabetics.

Regards

Peter

  I have found using a half packet of refined stevia sweetener actually
tastes better than using a whole packet- it avoids the bitter aftertaste.

 Still, I think the combo of Splenda + Eridex tastes the best, at least in
the coffee syrup I have tried.  I would like to find a "table sugar" type
Splenda-Eridex combo.  Or even Eridex on it's own.

 One problem with many artificial or substitute sweeteners is the lack of
bulk- they are just too sweet per gram, and they don't contribute to the
syrupy texture that real sugar has.

 I don't really like aspartame now days, it tastes fake and there are
better sweeteners.  But products are still using it.  Saccharin tasted
better, but the healthscare about it drove people to the, IMO, inferior
aspartame.

Have you tried the stevia leaf, or just the powder? I don't notice any
bitter taste at all from the leaf.

Skinny

Hooley Dooley, how sweet do you like it? The half teaspoon of sugar
would be too sweet for me. I personally am used to saccharine (one
drop of the solution, or half of a tablet). That has a bitter
aftertaste to many, I believe, but I've grown to like it. For cereals,
I find that a few drops of saccharine and a sprinkle of one of the
powders seems to give more sweetness than even more of just the one
sweetener. If I'm physically whacked, I will use some saccharine and
sucrose. That makes it very sweet and very restorative for me.