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inducing forward mutations in bacteria and gene mutations and an hour". Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported that fur- chromosomal aberrations in lung fibroblasts of Chinese ham- __ ther "studies conducted to confirm this result have all been sters.". This may sound frightening, but the amount given to negative". animals during testing of such substances can be up to 1,500 The Lipton petition, an application to the FDA to use stevia times any daily amount relative to body weight that a human in its products, is also quoted, making the point that "if this would ingest. reproductive effect in rats is real and can be extrapolated to The Committee also noted that the material tested "was humans, then one might suspect that there would be very few poorly specified or of variable quality", not necessarily repre- children in some regions of Paraguay". sentative of the commercial product, and that "no studies of Two separate Thai studies have found that reproduction in metabolism of stevioside and steviol in humans were avail- rats and hamsters is not affected by stevia. A study published able". Due to these considerations, in 1991, from Chulalongkorn the Committee concluded that it University Primate Research Centre could not give stevia an Acceptable in Bangkok, found that "stevioside at Daily Intake (ADI) rating. 8 . a dose as high as 2.5g/kg bod The Scientific Committee on Food Stevia Is widely used wt/day affects neither erowth hor (SCF) for the European Commission, throughout the Asian region. reproduction in hamsters". Chiang in its "Opinion on Stevioside as a Mai University researchers had work Sweetener" adopted on June 19, It has been considered published in 2000 regarding a study 1999, came to the conclusion that, safe for use in food of rats being fed aqueous extracts of of the specific stevioside stevia and other plants. The findings preparation for which approval is for many years. stated that "all the investigated plant sought", "the substance is not extracts have no toxic effect on male acceptable as a sweetener on the rat reproduction and progeny out- presently available data". Its come". position was similar to that of However, a University of Sao JECFA, including its concerns due to "questionable chronic Paulo, Brazil, study published in 1999 came up with different toxicity and carcinogenicity studies, and possible effects on findings when "chronic administration" of stevia showed that the male reproductive system that could affect fertility". "Stevia extracts may decrease the fertility of male rats". The study most commonly referred to when raising contra- Lack of detailed studies seems to be a problem where stevia ceptive concerns over stevia was undertaken in 1968, safety is concerned. The SCF's "Opinion on Stevia rebaudi - Professor Joseph Kuc of Purdue University, Indiana, being the ana Bertoni plants and leaves", adopted on 17 June 1999, eval- principal researcher. Stevia.net reports that the study was car- uates the herb as a novel food and concludes that "no appropri- ried out on rats, after it had been alleged that South American ate data were presented to enable the safety of the commercial women used the herb for contraception. Kuc acknowledges plant product to be evaluated"—perhaps because the applicant that the findings may not be applicable to humans, but believes _— just didn't supply enough information. SCF also notes that his methods were sound. The website quotes from The Stevia there was "no satisfactory data to support the safe use of these Story (Bonvie, Bonvie and Gates) and states that the rats in the products as ingredients of food or as sucrose substitute for dia- study were given very high concentrations of stevia—and betics and obese individuals". "...material from the stevia plant that would not ordinarily be Professor Mauro Alvarez's work was referenced in the SCF's consumed. This liquid replaced the animals’ drinking water, opinion and has been used by the FDA to raise doubt regard- and was given at such a rate as to equate with a person drink- ing the safety of stevia. Alvarez takes exception to his work ing 2.5 quarts [approximately 2.8 L] of liquid in less than half _ being used out of context, particularly by the FDA in the past. A letter expressing his frustration is post- ed at Stevia.net, where he states, "I can assure that our conclusions in these vari- . . ous studies indicate that Stevia is safe for Genet ically Modified Fo od i human consumption as per intended ; i 2 usage, that is, as a sweetener". A common argument put forward by stevia supporters regarding the safety of stevia is that it has widespread usage in South America and many Asian countries including China, Korea and Japan. Stevia is widely used throughout the Asian region. It has been considered Genetically Modified Food Lon SPreiAct| (vont stick toteeth) 3. A Success Record in Asia Stevia is widely used throughout the Asian region. It has been considered safe for use in food for many years. In fact, the situation is quite the reverse of that in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia. Many artificial sweeteners such as aspar- tame are illegal in Asian countries because of safety concerns. Companies using substances like aspartame in the USA, etc., are using stevia in Asia. HOLELESS PorwT STRAIGHT BANANA 26 = NEXUS safe for use in food for many years. www.nexusmagazine.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2003