There might just be a sweet revolution following the news that corporate giants Coca Cola and Cargill filed for 24 U.S. patents related to stevia, a South American herb used for centuries to sweeten food and drinks.

“Stevia is the world’s only zero-calorie, zero-glycemic, all-natural sweetener,” says Steve May, innovator of Arizona-based SweetLeaf stevia products. “It’s kind of the holy grail of the sweetener business.”

Stevia is 300 times sweeter than sucrose and in October the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to the organic foods firm Hain Celestial Group, which uses the product in certain tea and drink mixes, saying it had concerns about the effects the sweetener had on blood sugar levels, the cardiovascular system, and the reproductive system.

Still media reports say Coke and Cargill are working to petition the FDA for the product’s approval…Cargill plans to experiment with various food products, adding its stevia extracts to “anything it makes sense to add it to—ice creams, desserts”…Coca Cola and Cargill spent more than four years researching stevia before submitting information for patents. “This is another step toward meeting the public’s need for all-natural,” says Coca Cola spokeswoman Wanda Rodwell. “It’s an alternative we want to be able to deliver to our consumers.”…The process for U.S. approval of food additives can take years, according to the FDA…Coca Cola is now planning to launch products in one of 12 countries where stevia is permitted, but hasn’t decided where or in what product the sweetener will be used.

—Lori Hall Steele, QSRmagazine.com, 11/07