Cargil and Coke: for once they may do some good

Cargil and Coca-cola have teamed up to produce a diet soda that is sweetened with Stevia. The product has gone through many different names from Rebiania to now Truvia. Stevia is a roughly zero calorie, low glycemic natural sweetener, unlike aspartame i.e. nutra sweet, splenda, equal, ace-k, and countless others. If you have watched Sweet Misery or read my post on it, you know that I believe these sweeteners will kill you, if not directly via some sort of cancer, then ultimately of a neurological condition. Some people are extremely sensitive to these chemicals, that is what they are, chemicals, nothing natural about them. Even Splenda, whose "Tastes like sugar, because it is made from sugar" advertisement has put many peoples health in jeopardy as they consume these products.

What baffles me most about artificial sweeteners is not that people use them, or that they are allowed to be marketed, I understand the short comings of FDA in this country too well for that. Most of all I do not understand why people continue to use them. It has been proven over and over again that these sweeteners will actually cause you to gain weight and in very unhealthy ways. They are neurotoxins, your liver does not know what to do with them, it stores them as fat. Things remain stored in your adipose tissue for very long periods. So why would people continue to use a product that is in no way "diet"? Well all I can think of is that they do it because they continue to be told that it is what is good for them. It is just like the margarine situation all over again. Sooner the politics behind the push for these artificial sweeteners wont be enough to sustain it and somehow it will manifest in the public eye that these things are killing us. And these days they are in everything! From toothpaste to yogurt.

So if Stevia is a natural sweetener why is it not used instead of all of these proven dangerous substances? Well that again all comes down to politics and if you watch Sweet Remedy you will hear all about it. Basically Stevia is not allowed to be marketed as a sweetener, only as a supplement, thanks to Monsanto. But if Cargil succeeds in getting it approved by the FDA as a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) substance it will open a lot of new doors. To get something approved by the FDA as GRAS it takes a lot of political clout and money. Cargil has that, and now the time is right for them to hopefully gain approval. Occasionally, albeit not very often, what is actually good for the masses becomes economically good for big corporations. This is one of those times.

Cargil has developed a stevia sweetener called Truvia. Stevia is sold in stores but as a dietary supplement, not as a sweetener. For now Truvia is a supplement. Hopefully with time it will finally knock all of the artificial sweeteners off the shelves.

But now Coca-cola is after this new product. Obviously it would be best to not drink soda at all. But realistically people are not going to stop any time soon. As long as Cargil doesn't alter anything about Stevia while dubbing it Truvia this will be a very good thing, at least a step in the right direction for drinkers of diet soda.