As our old survey was on for a while now, it was time to start a new one. If you look at the results of the old one, you’ll see that most of you use Stevia powder. As we found out, many people use Stevia in a wrong way, so this time we’re interested in how you use Stevia powder.
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After this survey shows results, we will publish a FAQ about Stevia and its usage. Please tell us what you think and leave a comment under this post.
Finally, Stevia is going to be allowed to be used in Europe. The EU recently announced they are going to approve the sweetener for use all across Europe. Of course, the approval process takes time and it has not yet been completely, but very soon you will see many products in this part of the world use Stevia instead of sugar or an artificial sweetener.
Even though the EU may be one of the last big markets to approve Stevia, they have done exactly that. This sweetener has nearly gone global and with the addition of Europe, it will be available in every large market out there. Since the JECFA and the European Food Safety Authority have agreed that the sweetener is safe it has been approved to be used in foods very soon in Europe.
Stevia has most commonly been used in beverages and foods throughout Asia and the Americas. This is a compound extracted from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana. The reason there has been such an uproar about the sweetener is due to the natural properties and the fact that it is nearly 100% free of calories.
Refined sugar and many other sweeteners have many calories and are not 100% natural. Stevia, on the other hand, is like a miracle for those wanting that sweet taste, but not wanting to add the empty calories and the artificial ingredients to their body. This sweetener will take over Europe very soon and it is about time.
It was finally announced on November 11th that the EU has approved Stevia for use in foods and beverages. The Stevia suppliers are very excited about the new market opening up and are poised to launch their products into the marketplace.
In fact, Cargill, a Minneapolis supplier of Truvia brand Stevia and GLG Life Tech Corporation, a Vancouver based Stevia producer, have already signed agreements with sugar distributing companies like Azucarera of Spain, Eridania of Italy, Keyser & Mackay of Belgium, and Gusto Faravelli SpA of Italy to get their products into Europe.
The biggest news from a United States supplier of Stevia happened before the announcement of the EU approving the sweetener. PureCircle Ltd., a Chicago based supplier has already established and opened a European headquarters in London. They knew what was going to happen and they may be the most prepared to enter the marketplace with their product.
Many believe this is a huge step forward for the consumer in Europe and they will now have the ability to choose a better natural sweetener instead of sugar or artificial sweeteners. Stevia is considered a “better for me” type of product and very soon everybody in Europe will have this product as a sweetener choice.
Of course, it is not available just yet because legislation still has to be completed, but the approval has happened. This means the European market is about to change quite a bit. This may affect products like SoBe, Sprite, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, and many others that have already successfully launched their products with Stevia in the United States and other areas of the world.
Even if we still have more than two months to go until Christmas, we want to publish some Christmas recipes. We thought if you can already buy Christmas stuff at the supermarket why not post recipes about it.
With Christmastime come lots of delectable goodies including cookies, cakes, and candy. In fact, you will probably bake up some of your own to help celebrate the season.As you know, baking with Stevia can help you sweeten your treats naturally while saving yourself calories. Here is a cookie unlike your typical cookie cutter ones. This foolproof recipe for the perfect sugar cookies is guaranteed to come out sweet and irresistibly soft (almost ;) ) every time.
This recipe will yield approximately 4 1/2 dozen sugar cookies.
Ingredients Used:
2/3 cup of shortening
2/3 cup of butter
1 teaspoon Stevia powder
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 colored granulated decorating sugar
Directions:
• Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Next mix together the butter, shortening, and Stevia sweetener in a medium sized bowl. Mix well, eliminating lumps for a smooth batter.
• Add in the eggs and the vanilla. Stir together.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add this mixture into the creamy batter, mixing well.
• Once the dough has come together, roll it into small balls about the size of walnuts.
• Roll the dough balls in the decorative sugar and put them on a prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart from one another.
• Bake the cookies for about 12 to 15 minutes until the bottoms are light brown.
• When the cookies have finished baking, remove them from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.
Sugar Cookie Tips:
• Put the decorative sugar in a small bowl to make rolling the dough balls easy and mess free.
• Mix together various colors of sugar for a mix of brightness on your cookies.
• Sprinkles do not adhere well to this cookie dough.
• This recipe for sugar cookies creates a delicate batter that prevents you from rolling it out like typical sugar cookie recipes. However, if you would like to make special Christmas shaped cookies, simply place a cookie cutter on the baking sheet. Then place a dough ball inside the cutter and carefully press it out until it has shaped to the cutter. Gently remove the cutter and decorate your cookie as desired.
• Double the recipe and freeze half. Next time you have a gathering, pull out the dough and thaw it out the day before. This little trick ensures fresh cookies at every holiday get-together!
These soft sugar cookies are quick and easy to make and will wow your holiday guests every time. If you want to have them totally sugar free, keept the decorating sugar out.
The Stevia EU approval takes still time, so we thought we give you some information about the whole approval process:
As you probably know, Stevia is a natural zero calorie sweetener used in many products around the world, but is not currently being use in all of Europe. This is because it has not been approved across the board just yet. The EU Committee has recommended Stevia for approval in food and many sources believe it will soon be approved.
Recently the EU Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health did approve Stevia, which is yet another step towards its use in foods across the continent. France has already approved Stevia for use in foods, but it is still waiting for full approval to be used in the EU.
The European Union may be the last of the major markets to use Stevia, but it looks like it is going to happen. With a positive opinion being issues by the European Food Safety Authority on Stevia it is now even closer to being approved for use. However, it is still some time away because of the laws that are currently in place.
It takes a good amount of time to get a new ingredient approved in the EU. More than just a positive opinion from the EFSA is needed and the European Commission still has to approve the substance. It can take up to a full year from this point to get it approved in the EU because all the different countries have to change their laws. This all depends on the speed of the different administrations in charge of the laws.
The approval started in France when they made the chances in September of 2009. It had been petitioned for approval in June of 2006 by Stevia Natura (formerly Greensweet). The decision of the AFSSA to approve Stevia for use in France was made on a temporary basis for two years with the expectation of the European Commission to make a decision on the safety of Stevia throughout the entire European Union.
There is quite the anticipation for Stevia to be approved in the EU and the EUSTAS has already started putting together quality control plans. A label has even been created to list the ingredients of Stevia. This will cover solubility, pesticide residues, and purity and is aimed to ensure each batch of Stevia is safe.
The Timeline of the Status of Stevia in the EU
This entire approval process actually started back in 1997 when an application for the permission to use contents of the Stevia plant as “Novel Food” was presented to the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission. The product has to be proven completely harmless to the health of the consumer, which takes time, research, and money.
In 1999 the application was denied with the following statement: “The data was not sufficient to guarantee complete harmlessness to the health.” Many believed the disapproval, which came from Brussels contained errors.
From the year 2000 Stevia has been prohibited in the EU (source: EU Gazette; L 61/14)
After the disapproval many studies were conduction to help prove how harmless Stevia really is. In 2004 an ADI provisional value for Stevia of being harmless to the health of the consumer was established by the JECFA. However, in order to accomplish a definite ADI value the JECFA had to make a request for more research.
This has led to the current state of Stevia in the EU. As countries like France approve the sweetener on a trial basis it gets closer and closer to full approval across the entire European Union.
PureCircle has even stepped up to help the approval of Stevia happen. The company believes it is only a few months away and has announced a new headquarters in London. The company has stated they expect Stevia to be approved as early as November (2011) and they are preparing to enter the UK marketplace with the zero calorie sweetener.
With large companies like PureCircle and many countries pushing for the approval of Stevia it cannot be all that far away. It may not be as soon as November (2011), but it is certainly not far away. This could affect products like Coca-Cola, Gatorade, SoBe, and Sprite since these were the most successful launches in the United States and other countries.
Update: Stevia is finally approved by the EU: Stevia EU Approval
Here is a wonderful chocolate custard style Panna Cotta that you can top with Berry Coulis (easy recipe follows) or any fresh berries that are in season. Panna Cotta is a traditional Italian silken, creamy pudding style desert that is easy to make ahead for dinner parties, topping with berries right before serving. In Italy, Panna Cotta means “cooked cream,” and they hold nicely for a day or two when kept refrigerated until you’re ready to serve them.
This Panna Cotta can also be poured into a pie shell adding banana slices as an inner layer and decorative slices on the top of the pie. So many delectable ways to a healthy, beautiful desert. You’ll get raves on this one, guaranteed!
Chocolate Panna Cotta (pudding) ala Berry Coulis:
Sprinkle the gelatin on top of the cool water in a small-ish bowl. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to soften (bloom).
While you’re waiting for the gelatin, mix the chocolate soy milk, Stevia and salt in a pan and heat up to a boil. Quickly remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and gelatin/water. Whisk well until all the gelatin is dissolved.
Pour mixture into pretty clear glasses or ramekins. Chill while covered until it ‘sets’ and is firm, about 4 hours but can remain as long as 3 days.
Top and serve with berry coulis (recipe below), mint sprigs, flaked coconut or any fresh berries or fruit in season.
To sweeten without Stevia, use 1/2 cup of white sugar or a little more to taste.
Berry Coulis Topping
Cook everything in a pan except the Stevia, until berries are soft enough to be lightly mashed. May be put through a strainer at this point, or not. Add Stevia to suit your taste.
Alternate Tasty Easy Recipe: Chocolate Banana Cream Pie
After you’ve made the chocolate Panna Cotta above, turn it into a yummy pie! Just take a pre-made graham cracker pie crust, or just break up some graham crackers into bite-sized pieces and put a handful in the bottom of each dish. Then slice up some bananas and layer inside the pie shell or on top of the graham cracker pieces. Next pour on the Chocolate Panna Cotta.
Top with a few banana slices. Chill for an hour or more. Top with whipped cream if desired, chocolate bar shavings, coconut or berries/mint leaves! VIOLA!
We just started a new survey about what forms of stevia you use. As we got many comments on the usage of Stevia, we would like to know how and how much you use it. Some people seem to use too much of the powder for example. This makes the aftertaste bitter. We plan to publish more information on the home usage of Stevia in future, so your comments will help us. Please take part in the survey and comment ;)
What kind of Stevia sweetener do you use?
Total Voters: 95
Loading ...See the results of our last/old surveys : Stevia Surveys
Today we’re starting our series of recipes you can make with stevia. As our actual survey shows, most people use stevia just to sweeten coffee or tea but not for cooking. However, stevia is very heat-resistant and so perfect for cooking.
We start with the Apple Crisp, check back for more recipes.
Stevia Apple Crisps
Who would have thought apples can be this crispy?
The apple crisp is one of the most favorite desserts in many parts of the world today. The Canadians and Americans call it the apple crisp while the English refer to it as apple crumble.
This kind of dessert consists of the baked apples that are topped with crispy crust. The ingrendients used in making it is usually comprised of cooked apples, sugar, butter, cinnamon, flour and sometimes, it also contains, brown sugar, oats, ginger or if you want, nutmeg can also be included. A lot of other fruits can also be used as substitute for apples, like berries, peaches, pears and many more. One of its most popular variants is the so called apple rhubarb crumble/crisp wherein the rhubarb gives the apples a sharp contrast.
Apple crisps are somewhat a fresh invention in the field of cookery. It can be noted that it is not a part of the primary edition of 1896 “Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” which is actually a complete collection of the recipes in America. The very first reference to the apple crisp recipe was first seen in print in the year 1924, specifically in “Everybody’s Cook Book: A Comprehensive Manual of Home Cookery.” But regardless of being a new invention, the apple crisp has already become a British and American tradition particularly during the autumn or fall season, the time when apples are bountiful. This dessert is also famous in Canada, specifically in those areas where fruits and berries are readily obtainable. Apple crisp is also commonly included in menus of many restaurants in these mentioned countries.
Here is a simple recipe that you can use if you want to make stevia apple crisps.
Ingredients for the filling:
7-8 cups of chopped apples
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon crushed stevia leaf or ½ teaspoon crushed stevia extract
2 tablespoon whole wheat/rye/oat/buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½-1/3 cup of apple juice/blend (unsweetened)
Ingredients for the topping:
1 cup of rolled oats
1/3 cup of oat bran
1/3 cup of Fiber One Cereal
¾ teaspoon stevia concentrate
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
Directions:
And as simple as that, you already have your stevia apple crisps! Imagine, each serving only contains .5 grams of sugar, courtesy of stevia. Isn’t that great?
We just ended our old survey about the side effects of stevia you experienced. See here for the data(scroll down): Survey Section
Our new survey is about the question on how you use stevia. For cooking, for baking or just for beverages? Please take part and participate in the comment section. Your contribution makes this site better. Thank you.
What are you using stevia for?
Total Voters: 218
Loading ...We added another sweetener to our “other sweeteners” category. As stevia, xylitol is a sweetener, that can be found in the nature. Read about xylitol and it’s side effects : Xylitol Side Effects
There’re still no real news about the approval in the EU. The EFSA revised the exposure estimates for stevia in food this January, which means that the amount of steviosides allowed in foods was reduced. Some foods were completely taken out of consideration for the approval. If you want to get some more detailed information here’s a good article about the lately publications from EFSA: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Legislation/EFSA-lowers-exposure-levels-for-steviol-glycosides
Well what does this tell us? They’re not completely sleeping but all in all this news is not really an indicator that stevia will be approved soon in the EU…
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