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FDA says Cargill's Truvia is safe
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The Food and Drug Administration has told Cargill Inc. that its natural zero-calorie sweetener derived from the herb stevia is safe for use in foods and beverages, clearing the way for Coca-Cola Co. to use it in its products.
The FDA issued letters to Minnetonka-based Cargill and to Whole Earth Sweetener Co., a unit of Merisant Co. that developed its own stevia-based sweetener, stating that the FDA has no objections to the use of a highly purified form of stevia as a general-purpose sweetener in foods and beverages. Both companies filed notices with the agency in May stating that their sweeteners should be given the status of "generally recognized as safe."
Cargill and Merisant already sell tabletop versions of their sweeteners. Cargill launched a marketing campaign for its sweetener, called Truvia, this week.
Coke is introducing a Truvia-sweetened version of Sprite, called Sprite Green, this month. The company also is introducing two flavors of a juice drink in its Odwalla line this week using the sweetener, and it plans to put it in a new, reduced-calorie version of Glaceau Vitaminwater early next year.
PepsiCo Inc., which is using Merisant's version of the sweetener, plans to put the sweetener in two drinks for the U.S. market: a zero-calorie SoBe Lifewater and an orange-juice drink called Trop50, containing half the calories of orange juice.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
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