American Botanic Council asks for lift on stevia import ban

AUSTIN, Texas The American Botanic Council is calling for a repeal of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 1991 import alert on steviol glycosides, which are used under the name of “stevia” as food and beverage sweeteners and dietary supplements.

In ABC’s HerbalGram publication, Mark Blumenthal, ABC’s founder and executive director, calls the stevia alert “unreasonable and illogical” given the “current scientific and medical information supporting the safety of stevia when consumed in relatively small amounts in foods to give them a sweet taste.” Blumenthal notes that stevia importers would still have to conduct FDA GRAS reviews, thus further ensuring safety, in order to use their product. 

Currently, stevia’s low glycemic index allows it to be permitted solely as a dietary supplement in the U.S., and no food manufacturers have been able to gain FDA GRAS status for use in food and beverages. The American Herbal Products Association in 1992, as well as Lipton-Uniliver in 1994, petitioned to obtain GRAS status in order to use stevia in foods and beverage products, but the FDA refused both. 

Coburn & Coffman PLLC, a two-man law firm in Washington DC, disagrees with ABC, stating in a petition that stevia glycosides are drugs, since they have been studied for effects on blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Coburn & Coffman cite Sect. 301 (II) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) as grounds to “seize, and obtain injunctions against distribution of food other than dietary supplement to which have been added stevioside, rebaudioside A, or any other steviol glycoside.”