Stevia sweetener (table-top)

A table-top stevia sweetener is not the same product as bulk steviol glycosides, and confusing the two costs buyers money. The sweetening agent is steviol glycosides — INS 960 in the Codex system, E 960 in the EU — obtained from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni. JECFA's definition describes the route precisely: the leaf is extracted with hot water, the aqueous extract is passed through an adsorption resin to trap and concentrate the glycosides, the resin is washed with a solvent alcohol to release them, and the product is recrystallised from methanol or aqueous ethanol, optionally spray dried. Stevioside (CAS 57817-89-7, C38H60O18) and rebaudioside A (CAS 58543-16-1, C44H70O23) are the two glycosides of commercial interest for sweetening; rebaudiosides B, C, D and F, dulcoside A, rubusoside and steviolbioside make up the balance. The JECFA specification requires not less than 95% of the total of the seven named steviol glycosides on the dried basis, and describes the material as a white to light yellow powder, odourless or with a slight characteristic odour, about 200 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose. At that intensity the pure additive cannot be spooned, so a table-top product is by definition a formulation: a small percentage of steviol glycosides carried on a bulking agent, adjusted so that a sachet, a level spoon or a single tablet delivers a stated sucrose equivalence. Thovek builds the blend to the brief — erythritol where a spoon-for-spoon volume match and a clean cooling mouthfeel are wanted, maize or tapioca maltodextrin where cost governs, inulin or FOS where the finished label is to carry fibre — and fixes the rebaudioside A fraction (60%, 80% or 97% minimum) to the taste target, since a higher Reb A share reduces the liquorice-like bitterness that stevioside-dominant material carries. Formats are bulk powder, 0.5 to 1.0 g stick packs and sachets, and compressed tablets in dispensers. One labelling rule follows the bulking agent rather than the sweetener: a finished pack containing more than 10% added polyols must carry the 'excessive consumption may produce laxative effects' statement set out in Annex III of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. The regulatory position drives the specification, so it is worth stating plainly. JECFA established an ADI of 0-4 mg/kg body weight per day expressed as steviol at its 69th meeting, and per-glycoside conversion factors turn a use level into steviol equivalents. In India steviol glycosides are a permitted non-nutritive sweetener under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations with category-specific maximum levels, but FSSAI's advisory of November 2023 confirmed that INS 960 is not permitted in cocoa and chocolate products or in imitation chocolate and chocolate-substitute products — a restriction to check before any confectionery brief is accepted. In the EU the additive must be declared on the finished label by the name 'steviol glycosides' together with its E number. In the United States high-purity steviol glycoside preparations are marketed under GRAS. The blend itself is vegan and vegetarian with no bovine, porcine or marine input, no gelatin and no dairy carrier, and carries no milk, egg, fish, crustacean, soy, peanut, tree nut or sesame; maltodextrin is specified from maize or tapioca rather than wheat as standard, which is what keeps the gluten-free declaration defensible.