Truvia

[BigDog]

My mother just bought this and I don't really understand what this is. A stevia derivative? How can there be 3 carbs per packet and no calories????? I hate these labels. :ban:

[Patricia]

My mother just bought this and I don't really understand what this is. A stevia derivative? How can there be 3 carbs per packet and no calories????? I hate these labels. :ban:

Hmmm, that's weird. I got a coupon in the mail but may just stick to plain ol' Sweetleaf Stevia

[Inatic]

ingredient list for Truvia.

http://truvia.com/ingredients.html

[sarahlou]

LOL! Great question. Truvia is in essence a blend of rebiana, derived from the plant extract stevia, and erythritol, a sugar alcohol. There's a lot of politics here and I have actually been thinking of writing a blog post all about stevia and truvia suffice it to say that the cola market has become stagnant and the major players wanted to mix things up by adding new product lines. Stevia really can't be owned but because of the processing (rebiana + erythritol) truvia can which made it attractive to the major cola companies hence Cargill enters the picture.

Erythritol is the major carb source in truvia. It is a sugar alcohol like xylitol (in chewing gum) or sorbitol. Erythritol is added because stevia is so sweet you would only need milligrams to sweeten a cup of coffee and most folks are used to adding a teaspoon (measureable amount) to their cup. This gives it consumer-appeal believe it or not. 3 grams of erythritol is about 1 calorie.

Does Truvia have calories? Absolutely but according to FDA a product can be listed as 'zero calorie' food if a serving contains fewer than 5 calories. As with any zero-calorie food the major issue arises when you consume multiple servings of the food. Personally 1 packet of truvia doesn't do it for me and I would need to use 2 packets for a cup of tea. Personally I prefer to stick with stevia. Sugar alcohols don't tend to be very intestine-friendly and stevia has stood the test of time in South America.

Hope this helps :)

[Sunshine]

LOL! Great question. Truvia is in essence a blend of rebiana, derived from the plant extract stevia, and erythritol, a sugar alcohol. There's a lot of politics here and I have actually been thinking of writing a blog post all about stevia and truvia suffice it to say that the cola market has become stagnant and the major players wanted to mix things up by adding new product lines. Stevia really can't be owned but because of the processing (rebiana + erythritol) truvia can which made it attractive to the major cola companies hence Cargill enters the picture.

Erythritol is the major carb source in truvia. It is a sugar alcohol like xylitol (in chewing gum) or sorbitol. Erythritol is added because stevia is so sweet you would only need milligrams to sweeten a cup of coffee and most folks are used to adding a teaspoon (measureable amount) to their cup. This gives it consumer-appeal believe it or not. 3 grams of erythritol is about 1 calorie.

Does Truvia have calories? Absolutely but according to FDA a product can be listed as 'zero calorie' food if a serving contains fewer than 5 calories. As with any zero-calorie food the major issue arises when you consume multiple servings of the food. Personally 1 packet of truvia doesn't do it for me and I would need to use 2 packets for a cup of tea. Personally I prefer to stick with stevia. Sugar alcohols don't tend to be very intestine-friendly and stevia has stood the test of time in South America.

Hope this helps :)

Very helpful, thanks. No sugar alcohos for me either. Sticking with stevia.

[Anca]

Oh man this sucks that it has sugar alcohols. I was looking forward to a healthy non-bitter Stevia sweetener. :dry: