"Get ready for a great tasting, zero-calorie sweetener made from rebiana, the best tasting part of the stevia leaf. Truvia™ (pronounced Tru-VEE-a) natural sweetener will give you a new, natural way to reduce calories while still enjoying sweet-tasting foods and beverages."
The following information comes straight from Truvia's website:
Truvia™ (pronounced Tru-VEE-a) is the brand name for a great-tasting, natural, zero calorie sweetener made with rebiana, the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Truvia™ natural sweetener provides consumers with a new, natural sweetener choice to reduce the number of calories in their diets and provides a new option in their overall wellness plan. Cargill is announcing the availability of both the Truvia™ sweetener as an ingredient and as a tabletop sweetener available to consumers.
The Name
The name Truvia™ comes from the combination of "truth" and "the way."
The Need
Increasingly,
consumers are looking for natural food and beverage alternatives.
Truvia™ rebiana, which comes from a leaf, gives them a new sweetener
choice. Many consumers are managing their calorie intake and have been
searching for a zero calorie natural alternative to current market
offerings.
Look for the Leaf
Now,
consumers will be able to taste Truvia™ tabletop sweetener. In
addition, Truvia™ natural sweetener will be used as an ingredient in
foods and beverages.
Safety
Based on
stevia's long history of use around the world, previous scientific
research, and a rigorous safety evaluation program, Truvia™ natural
sweetener has been established as a safe product for use as a general
purpose sweetener.
Look and Taste
Truvia™
tabletop has a unique crystalline form and proprietary natural flavor
system. Cargill provides all the ingredients in the Truvia™ tabletop
sweetener and uses its food formulation expertise to bring consumers
the optimum taste in natural zero calorie sweetness.
One packet of Truvia™ natural sweetener provides the same sweetness as two teaspoons of sugar. Truvia™ natural sweetener is suitable for people with diabetes. The product is kosher certified (Parve circle U).
Manufacturer's Suggested Introductory Retail Pricing and Availability
The
tabletop sweetener will initially be available in 40, 80 and 140 sachet
quantity packaging. Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing is $3.99
for 40-count carton, $6.49 for 80-count carton and $10.99 for 140-count
carton.
The 40-count package will be available for purchase online for $3.99 plus shipping/handling at www.truvia.com.
About the Packaging
Truvia™
natural sweetener comes in recyclable cartons that are printed with soy
inks. The cartons are designed to evoke sweetness and the notion of
confections. These unique cartons have an attractive and easy-to-open
lid.
Truvia™ natural sweetener comes in packets that are printed with food grade inks, a feature not replicated with other sweetener packets.
About Cargill
Headquartered
in Minneapolis, Minn., Cargill is a privately held international
provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and
services. With 158,000 employees in 66 countries, the company is
committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with
customers to help them succeed. For more information about Cargill,
visit www.cargill.com
Products
What is Truvia™ natural sweetener?
Truvia™
(pronounced Tru-VEE-a) is the brand name for the first great tasting,
natural, zero calorie sweetener made with rebiana, the best-tasting
part of the stevia leaf. Cargill has worked for years to develop
Truvia™ natural sweetener in response to consumer demand for a natural,
zero calorie way to sweeten foods and beverages. Unlike stevia used in
dietary supplements, which typically refers to a mixture of many
components from the stevia leaf, rebiana comes only from the
best-tasting components of the stevia leaf and is a high-purity
sweetener that is consistent in quality.
What makes Truvia™ natural sweetener different from any other sweetener available today?
Prior
to the introduction of Truvia™ natural sweetener, no one knew how to
isolate the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf, turn it into a
consistently great-tasting, high-quality, natural sweetener, and ensure
a consistent supply. Nearly all other tabletop or food and beverage
sweeteners available today are either artificial or contain calories.
Are Truvia™ natural sweetener, rebiana and stevia all the same thing?
No.
Truvia™ is the brand name. Rebiana is the common or usual name for
this new ingredient derived from the stevia plant. Stevia is used to
describe either the stevia plant or to loosely describe various
products derived from the stevia plant.
Both stevia and rebiana come from the leaves of the stevia plant. However, rebiana, developed by Cargill, is a high-purity, consistent product that comes from the best-tasting components of the stevia leaf. Stevia as used in dietary supplements typically refers to a crude preparation from the leaves of the stevia plant that contains a mixture of many components, not just those that give a sweet taste to the leaf.
How is Truvia™ natural sweetener (rebiana) processed from stevia leaves?
Rebiana
begins with a leaf. The leaves are harvested and dried, and then
steeped in fresh water in a process similar to that of making tea. This
unlocks the best-tasting part of the leaf, which is then further
purified to make a food-grade product. The finished product is the pure
sweetness of rebiana.
Is Truvia™ natural sweetener organic?
No.
While Truvia™ natural sweetener is natural and comes from a plant, it
is not certified or grown organically at this time. That could happen
in the future, depending upon consumer demand.
Where is the stevia grown to produce Truvia™ natural sweetener?
It is grown commercially primarily in China, as well as in Paraguay, where stevia is a native plant.
What is erythritol and how is it used in the Truvia™ natural sweetener product?
Erythritol
is a natural, non-caloric alternative to sugar. It has been part of the
human diet for thousands of years as it is present in fruits such as
pears, melons and grapes, as well as foods such as mushrooms and
fermentation-derived foods such as wine, soy sauce and cheese. Since
1990, erythritol has been commercially produced and added to foods and
beverages to provide sweetness, as well as enhance taste and texture.
It is used as a bulking ingredient in the tabletop formula.
Safety
Is Truvia™ natural sweetener safe for consumption?
Yes.
Before making Truvia™ natural sweetener available to consumers, Cargill
commissioned a rigorous set of scientific studies that established the
safety of rebiana. The results confirmed the positive findings of
earlier studies and addressed unresolved questions. The results have
been published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, a
peer-reviewed scientific journal. A panel of independent experts
reviewed a dossier of all available toxicity and safety information
relevant to rebiana, and concluded that rebiana is safe for use as a
general purpose sweetener.
If stevia is a natural
product that's been used safely for decades, why did you conduct this
research to establish the safety of rebiana?
Cargill
sponsored various studies to affirm earlier positive safety findings
for steviol glycosides (including rebaudioside A, the main component of
rebiana) and to confirm that rebiana is broken down by the body in the
same way as stevioside, which has been studied extensively. Cargill
also wanted to answer specific questions posed by international
experts, so that consumers in countries where rebiana is not presently
allowed could have the same access to rebiana as consumers in Japan and
other countries in Asia and South America, for whom stevia is readily
available as a sweetener.
Is there a limit on how much rebiana a person can safely consume?
The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) supports rebiana use as a general purpose sweetener in food and beverages.
Business
What is the relationship between The Coca-Cola Company and Cargill?
Cargill
and The Coca-Cola Company have worked in collaboration to develop the
ingredient called rebiana. Rebiana will be marketed under the brand
name Truvia™. While the trademark is jointly owned, Cargill owns and
operates the Truvia™ tabletop sweetener business as well as the Truvia™
ingredient business that provides food and beverage manufacturers with
Truvia™ branded rebiana for their consumer products.
When will Truvia™ natural sweetener be available to consumers in the U.S.? In othermarkets around the world?
Truvia™
tabletop sweetener will be introduced in the U.S. first in limited
areas, then made available in other markets. It is being introduced
first as a tabletop sweetener with work underway for food and beverage
applications that will be announced over the course of the next year.
Will Truvia™ natural sweetener be marketed as a health product?
Truvia™
natural sweetener will be marketed as a new sweetener that was
developed in response to strong consumer demand for a great-tasting,
natural, zero calorie way to sweeten foods and beverages.
In what foods will Truvia™ natural sweetener be featured?
Following
the introduction of Truvia™ natural sweetener as a tabletop product,
Truvia™ natural sweetener will be formulated for use in a number of
food products by companies in the food industry.
