Not since the debuts of NutraSweet and Splenda have we seen as much advertising for a sweetener. One version of the current new kid, Truvia, a joint development of Coca-Cola and Cargill, is a zero-calorie natural sweetener made, as the ads for it say, "from the best part of the stevia plant," and it's getting some pretty heavy promotion.
Here's Mr. Tidbit's understanding: One variety of stevia -- Stevia rebaudiana -- is widely grown for its sweet leaves. The best tasting part of that leaf is a sweet substance called rebaudioside A (or reb A). An extract of reb A, rebiana, is the basis of Truvia. Actually, Truvia is erythritol (a sugar alcohol, but one said not to normally produce the gastric-upset side effects of other sugar alcohols), rebiana and natural flavors.
Not as loud as the drumbeat for Truvia is that for Pure Via, the stevia version used by Pepsi in its stevia-sweetened products. Pure Via is erythritol, isomaltulose (a sugar relative that is more slowly digested), reb A extract and natural flavors.
When Mr. Tidbit discussed Pepsi's Trop50, the Tropicana brand's half-water "orange juice beverage" last week, he noted that the ingredients list included the rather obscure "Reb A (Pure Via brand)." That's as clear as the label is about it -- not even that it's a sweetener -- and there's no sweetening reference of any kind on the front label.
By contrast, new 100-calorie packs of Breyers YoCrunch nonfat yogurt with cookie pieces, which are sweetened with a mixture of sugar and Truvia, carry a "naturally sweetened with Truvia" logo on the front, and the ingredients list calls it "rebiana (a natural sweetener)."
It's a small world The world of canned soup continues to expand. But not all of the expansion is light, low-sodium or other versions of existing soups. Progresso has a new line called World Recipes. There are four to date, but they don't expand the world very far -- like tortilla y pollo (chicken tortilla), all four are Mexican.
AL SICHERMAN
