GI Symbol News with Alan Barclay

Alan Barclay

A sweet blend: the best of both worlds?
Stevia was recently approved for use as a food additive in Australian foods by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). It has been used as a sweetener in Japan, South America and other nations for several decades. It is obtained from Stevia rebaudiana – a herb belonging to the chrysanthemum family which grows wild as a small shrub in parts of Paraguay and Brazil. Like many non-nutritive sweeteners, Stevia is 250–300 times sweeter than sucrose. Due to its intense sweetness, it is currently being blended with sucrose and sold as CSR Smart White Sugar Blend in Australia. Even in this form, it is still twice as sweet as plain white sugar, so in theory you should be able to use half as much, reducing your kilojoule and carbohydrate intake. Like many non-nutritive sweeteners, this may affect some recipes (lack of bulk, changes in texture, etc…), and it is more expensive than standard white sugar, Logicane™ and golden syrup.

Click for a complete guide to nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners along with brands that carry the GI Symbol.



For more information email: alan@gisymbol.com



Contact
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
CSO, Glycemic Index Ltd
Phone: +61 2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 2 9785 1037
Email: mailto:alan@gisymbol.com
Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: mailto:alan@gisymbol.com%20%3C/a%3E%3Cbr%3EWeb%20%3Ca%20href=