A study establishing the safety of rebiana (high-purity Rebaudioside A from the plant stevia) for general use as a sweetener was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.

Beginning in 2004, Cargill commissioned a rigorous safety evaluation program for rebiana in consultation with leading scientists. In partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, Cargill has developed rebiana as a natural, zero-calorie ingredient, and will market the sweetener under the brand name TRUVIA.

The rebiana safety evaluation program included metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies, general and multi-generational safety studies, intake studies and human studies. Cargill sponsored the studies to affirm earlier safety findings for purified steviol glycosides, and to confirm that rebiana is broken down by the body in the same way as stevioside, which has been studied extensively. Rebaudioside A—the main component of rebiana—is nearly identical in chemical structure to stevioside.  

In safety studies, daily consumption of rebiana—equivalent to a 150-lb person drinking between 1000 and 2000 8-ounce servings of rebiana-sweetened beverage—had no negative effects on the general health, reproduction, growth or development of adults or their offspring.

In clinical studies, daily consumption of 1000 mg rebiana—equivalent to consuming 29 packets of sweetener or drinking approximately eight 8-ounce servings of a rebiana-sweetened beverage every day for 4 or 16 weeks—had no effect on blood pressure in healthy subjects with normal or low-normal blood pressure, or on blood sugar control in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

“These newly published data complement the body of existing scientific research on steviol glycosides, the sweet components of the stevia leaf,” said Leslie Curry, regulatory and scientific affairs director, Cargill Food and Ingredient Systems. “The rebiana research program affirmed positive safety data from earlier studies on purified steviol glycosides and addressed unresolved questions resulting from studies with crude stevia extracts.”

“TRUVIA natural sweetener was developed to meet the strong consumer demand for a natural, zero calorie way to sweeten foods and beverages. Rebiana provides a new great tasting alternative that meets that demand,” said Zanna McFerson, business director for Cargill Health and Nutrition. “The results of this research program pave the way to bring this long sought after sweetener to U.S. consumers.”

Although stevia today is sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement, rebiana could be the first available sweetener for foods and beverages that has been purified from the stevia plant.