What’s a better way to sweeten a cup of coffee or tea than naturally? Stevia stole the limelight in 2008 when FDA approved it as a sweetener. For years, tribes from Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil used stevia to sweeten their yerba maté, and now many Americans are using it in their tea and coffee as a better-for-you offering compared to sucralose and aspartame. In fact, stevia was sold as a dietary supplement until 2008, allowing companies such as Wisdom Natural Brands to promote the health benefits of stevia. Following FDA’s approval, companies including PureCircle and Cargill debuted standardized extracts of a single stevioside, marketed as Reb A; Widsom’s SweetLeaf™ is also now sold as a sweetener, delivering whole stevia instead of purified rebaudiosides. Stevia is a crowd pleaser not only because of its natural roots but it’s great for tea and coffee drinkers who suffer from diabetes.
For natural products consumers leaning more toward whole-food sweeteners, there are a variety of options to choose from. Organic palm sugar, molasses, honey and agave are among the hot options from companies such as Suzanne’s Specialties and Navitas Naturals. Suzanne’s also offers a brown rice syrup extracted from the bran layer of brown rice. This sweetener works well for those with celiac, as it’s gluten-free.