Veena Annadana
Well-Known Member
The impact of stevia in 2012
Claire Rowan30 Dec 2011
With a year of renewed investment behind us, 2012 looks to be equally as active.
As the stands were dismantled in December on the largest Fi Europe exhibition ever to have taken place in the event’s 25-year history, companies were already actively hatching their launch plans for early 2012 for the first products naturally sweetened with stevia to be introduced in Europe (outside of France).
Steviol glycosides (or stevia) received final approval for use in Europe following the formal adoption of the European Commission’s Regulation in November. This opens the floodgates to ‘natural’ product launches and relaunches during 2012 as stevia extracts, already used in the US, Latin America and France among other markets, can now be formulated in a wide range of products such as yogurts, cereals, beverages, soft drinks, confectionery, chocolate and tabletop sweeteners in Europe.
Legislation is also the driver of another area of activity for 2012, that of labelling. Following agreement on the long-awaited European Food Information Regulation, food companies will have three years to conform to most of the rules, and five years in particular to comply with new rules on nutrition values, which include a ‘mandatory nutrition declaration’ comprising energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrates, protein, sugars and salt to be indicated in the same field of vision on a label, per 100g or per 100ml of product.
Source: FoodBev.com | Opinion | The impact of stevia in 2012
Claire Rowan30 Dec 2011
With a year of renewed investment behind us, 2012 looks to be equally as active.
As the stands were dismantled in December on the largest Fi Europe exhibition ever to have taken place in the event’s 25-year history, companies were already actively hatching their launch plans for early 2012 for the first products naturally sweetened with stevia to be introduced in Europe (outside of France).
Steviol glycosides (or stevia) received final approval for use in Europe following the formal adoption of the European Commission’s Regulation in November. This opens the floodgates to ‘natural’ product launches and relaunches during 2012 as stevia extracts, already used in the US, Latin America and France among other markets, can now be formulated in a wide range of products such as yogurts, cereals, beverages, soft drinks, confectionery, chocolate and tabletop sweeteners in Europe.
Legislation is also the driver of another area of activity for 2012, that of labelling. Following agreement on the long-awaited European Food Information Regulation, food companies will have three years to conform to most of the rules, and five years in particular to comply with new rules on nutrition values, which include a ‘mandatory nutrition declaration’ comprising energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrates, protein, sugars and salt to be indicated in the same field of vision on a label, per 100g or per 100ml of product.
Source: FoodBev.com | Opinion | The impact of stevia in 2012