Stevia Leaf Cut & Sifted

Stevia rebaudiana

Stevia leaf is obtained from Stevia rebaudiana, a South American evergreen shrub also known as Sugar Leaf and Sweet Leaf.

For thousands of years, the indigenous peoples of Paraguay and Brazil have used the leaf of this plant as a natural sweetener for various beverages such as chimarrão, an infusion commonly called yerba mate. Because stevia leaf is virtually free of calories and carbohydrates, it is used as an alternative to cane sugar.

Today, stevia is widely used around the world as a food additive and natural sweetener. In Japan, for example, the sugar-free versions of diet Coke and Wrigley's gum use stevia instead of sugar. Similarly, stevia is embraced as an alternative to sugar in Australia, China, South Korea, most of Europe and all of South America.

In the US, however, stevia leaf has not yet been approved as a food additive or given GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status. The herb is, however, available as a dietary supplement.