Stevioside (Stevioside, E960) — extract of the herb stevia (Stevia rebaudiana bertoni).
According to various sources, from 40 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. Stevioside has almost no calories. The use of stevioside is about 4 times cheaper than the use of sugar. In Japan, he captured about 50% of the “sweet market”. It is a natural sugar substitute, because it is not as harmful as artificial sugar substitutes.
Previously, there were concerns that stevioside could be a mutagen, and for some time there were restrictions on its sale in the European Union, Hong Kong and Macau. Studies conducted by the WHO have not confirmed the mutagenicity of stevioside.