# Stevia

Stevia is the common name for sweeteners extracted from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana. The sweet compounds are steviol glycosides, chiefly stevioside and rebaudioside A, coded E 960 in the EU. They are 200 to 300 times sweeter than table sugar and supply no usable energy. Colonic bacteria strip the sugar units, releasing steviol, which is absorbed, conjugated in the liver, and excreted in urine.

EFSA judged steviol glycosides safe as a food additive in 2010 and adopted an ADI of 4 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, expressed as steviol equivalents rather than as the glycoside itself. JECFA and the FDA use the same figure. In 2024 EFSA examined a request to raise the ADI to 6 or 16 mg/kg and concluded that the justification was insufficient, so the limit stands.

Trial evidence is comparatively favourable. A meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials by Onakpoya and Heneghan found no adverse effect on fasting glucose or lipids, with a small reduction in blood pressure that rested on few and small studies.

The caveat is scale. Those trials are short and measure surrogate markers. Long-term outcome data in people do not exist for any non-sugar sweetener, stevia included.

## Sources

- EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS). (2010). Scientific Opinion on the safety of steviol glycosides for the proposed uses as a food additive. EFSA Journal. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1537
- EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF). (2024). Scientific opinion on the extension of the authorisation of use of the food additive steviol glycosides (E 960a-d) and the modification of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for steviol. EFSA Journal. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2024.9045
- Onakpoya IJ, Heneghan CJ. (2015). Effect of the natural sweetener, steviol glycoside, on cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047487314560663

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_Canonical: https://longevity-germany.com/en/glossary/stevia · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-08-25_