NutraSweet to release stevia-based sweetener

CHICAGO NutraSweet Co., maker of aspartame-based sugar substitutes, is hopping on the bandwagon of manufacturers that are creating introducing a stevia-based sweetener called NutraSweet Natural sometime this year.

Coca-Cola’s Truvia and Pepsi’s PureVia have already been approved by the FDA; Truvia will be used in a line of Sprite, while PureVia will be incorporated in three new SoBe Lifewater flavors.

Stevia is the generic name for a plant native to Paraguay and has been used as sweeteners for coffee, among other food products. Cargill began marketing packets of Truvia last May. The natural sweetener delivers a kick 200 times sweeter than sugar and is produced through a process in which the leaves are picked, dried and added to water.

NutraSweet Natural will be a food service industry product and is currently being created in NutraSweet’s Chicago laboratory.