Roland Lemaire, the initiator of the website took this decision yesterday: “After the last conference in London it was clear to everyone that the regulation on labelling, packaging and advertising of steviol glycosides, since the Regulations 1131/2011 and 231/2012 of the European Commission, now urgently need to be addressed at the federal level. The authorization for the sale of steviol glycosides is regulated at European level, the Belgian updated guideline on regulation about the labeling and advertising appear shortly. The former dates from October 2011.  How it progresses in the other countries with any regulatory guideline is not clear to me and therefore my answer is more and more due “

As the succession of the federal issue in the 27 states is hard to be monitored and reported from the initial concept of Stevia.eu, it was decided to continue with a different domain name and social media … depending on the final bid for Stevia.eu .
FYI: The website still scores on the first results page when searching ‘stevia’ via Google.be (Dutch).

For your bid (with or without preservation of the logo -to discuss)or for more information: info@stevia.eu or +32-484 599059.
Why buying Stevia eu (pdf)

Spread the news through your social network.

In the Grand Connaught Rooms‘ Connard Suite (Londen) conference producer Simon Hoare (Fi Conferences) introduced in front of about seventy attendants the chairman of the day, Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns, who opened with the statement that steviol glycosides were allowed as a sweetener by the European Commission and that Stevia (as ‘novel food’) still is to be approved.

In a panel discussion the first months from the Regulation EU 1131/2011 on were evaluated by moderator Lindsey Bagley (Eureka) and David Jago (Mintel), Jim May (Wisdom Natural Brands) and Peter Naylor (WILD Flavors International).
Then Maria Teresa Scardigli (International Stevia Council) continued about the basics of the regulation of steviol glycosides in European F&B and about communicating the use of steviol glycosides by the consumers. She also talked about the Proficiency Testing Programme for steviol glycosides.

After the morning break John Fry (Connect Consulting) discussed the challenge of successfully blending steviol glycosides in creating great tasting products. Maurits Burgering (TNO) discussed the tackling of the impact on mouth feel of sugar replacement by  ‘natural’ ingredients.
Sam Newberg (Sweet Green Fields) and Leon van Middegaal (IMCD Benelux) compared the cost of steviol glycosides versus sugar and other natural sweeteners in the short, medium and long term.

After lunch Sam Waterfall (Healthy Marketing Team) presented the rules for marketing Stevia and steviol glycosides by pointing at the right communication for the right consumer. Jason Hecker (PureCircle Limited) discussed how the supply chain can serve as a source of advantage in the areas of quality , scale, consistency, innovation and sustainability.

In the second part of the afternoon two case studies were presented:
Jim May (Wisdom Natural Brands) looked back to his long experience with the development and sales of steviol glycosides as tabletop sweeteners. Anne Marstein Andersten (Danisco) talked about the technical part of reducing sugar in ice cream and how to communicate marketingwise on the packaging.

The conference was closed by the chairman of the day, Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns.

Photos of the speakers

On 13 April there was a workshop organised about the replacement of sugar with naturally-derived sweeteners.

On day one of the Fi Europe Conference in Paris (29/11 – 1/12/2011) there was a conference module about Stevia.

Moderator of the afternoon was Sue Bancroft, Global Marketing Director, PureCircle

Sue Bancroft

Maria Teresa Scardigli (Executive Director EMEA, International Stevia Council) first explained ‘The European Union’s acceptance of Stevia as a food additive’
Jordi Ferre (VP Sales EMEA, PureCircle) talked about how to prepare for mainstream succes.
How to make Stevia more sweet (overcoming technical reformulation challenges) was explained by Dr. Daniel Bonerz (Head of R&D Compounds & Sweetness, Doehler Group)

A Q&A session ended the Stevia module in Paris.

Dr. Daniel Bonerz, Jordi Ferre and Maria Teresa Scardigli

Chairman was Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns (Head of Laboratory Functional Biology KULeuven).
Wim Debeuckelaere, Administrator Unit E3 DG SANCO (European Commission) clarified the timetable for Stevia approval by the EU Commission.
In a panel discussion (moderated by Neal Cavalier-Smith, Director of Consulting Healthy Marketing Team) Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns (Founding member of EUSTAS), Wim Debeuckelaere (Administrator Unit E3 DG SANCO, European Commission), Frances Hunt (Secretary General International Sweeteners Association) and Jill Ardagh (Director General British Soft Drinks Association) discussed about ‘an industry response to the current regulatory climate’.
Abigail Birch and Suzanne Demski (resp. Innovation Manager and Innovation Technologist RSSL) and Justine Lord (Talin Business Manager Naturex) talked about the overcoming technical challenges involved in taste inconsistences when using steviol glycosides as a sugar replacement in beverages.

After lunch there was a round table discussion with Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns (Head of Laboratory Functional Biology KULeuven), Dr. Kerstin Burseg (Flavour Scientist Nizo Food research), Greg Horn (Sr. Technical Director Wild Flavors) and
Abigail Birch (Innovation Manager RSSL) about ‘Overcoming technical reformulation challenges in working with Stevia’.
‘Understanding the position of Stevia in European and Global markets’ was clarified by David Jago (Director of Trends & Innovation Mintel).
Neal Cavalier-Smith (Director of Consulting Healthy Marketing Team) talked about how to develop an effective and appropriate marketing strategy to achieve consumer acceptance of Stevia products.
Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns (Head of Laboratory Functional Biology KULeuven) explained an industry standard method of analysing purity levels in steviol glycosides.
A case study was given by Alexandre Sacerdoti (CEO Villers Maître Chocolatier)

Click here for the photos

On 14 April 2011 Fi Conferences hosted the conference ‘Legislation & Regulation for NPD & Reformulation’ in the beautiful Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Brussels. Although the subject was not Stevia, 5 of the 10 expert speakers were talking about Stevia and/or steviol glycosides. 

Barbara Gallani (Food & Drink Federation) opened from the Conference Chair, mentioning that Stevia would be discussed during the conference. 

Nino Binns (NB Consulting) outlined the upcoming legislative changes for F&B over the next 12 months and announced that steviol glycosides would be part in these changes. 

Annie-Laure Robin (Leatherhead Food Research) tried to align the different viewpoints of regulatory bodies, industry stakeholders and consumers to develop one common understanding. Steviol glycosides were one of the products in her presentation. 

Inga Köhler (Analyze & Realize) talked during her whole presentation about ‘Understanding the regulatory process behind Stevia approval in Europe and what is to be expected in 2011’. 

Susanne Kettler (Coca-Cola Europe) introduced her presentation with her view on Stevia as a sweetener. Coca-Cola uses rebaudioside A as a sweetener in Fanta Still in France already. 

Some attendants during a break

For more info about the content of the conference: www.fi-stevia.com.

Chairman Luca Quagliani opened the afternoon session, introducing the first speaker (Jordi Ferre). His subject was the Stevia ’s evolution to a mainstream sweetener. 

Jordi Ferre

 The second speaker was Matthias Saß, talking about the qualities of Stevia as an ingredient. 

Matthias Sass

Prof. Dr. Fred Brouns (Maastricht University), as scientist gave his opinion on ‘Stevia as an option for sugar reduction strategies’.

Prof. Dr. Fred Brouns

To find out more details about copies of the presentations slides, please go to: www.hieconference.com.

The first presentation, made by Carole Bingley (Innovation Development Manager at Reading Scientific Sciences) was about ‘New Developments in High Potency Sweeteners’.

Carole Bingley

Carole Bingley explained the reasons to reduce sugar consumption and what the alternatives to sucrose are, especially focussing on ‘new’ high potency sweeteners.
She talked about steviol glycosides (extracted from the honey leaf, Stevia rebaudiana) and luo han guo (extracted from Chinese monk fruit, Siratia grosvenorii) and about the challenges and opportunities of using these sweeteners.
With a case study (with rebaudioside A, the approved steviol glycoside for consumption in France) to reduce the sugar content of a beverage, it was suggested that luo han guo works well with rebaudioside –both extractions from plants currently waiting to be approved as a novel food in the EU.

Carole Bingley has a BSc in Food Science from the University of Reading and an MSc in Nutritional Medicine from the University of Surrey.  She worked for the independent consultancy LinTech from 1993 until 2000 and has been with Reading Scientific Services Ltd since 2000.  During this time she has carried out projects for a variety of high potency sweetener manufacturers and worked for companies looking to formulate products with high potency sweeteners.

After the opening words of Mrs Camilla Sandvik (European Commission – Directorate General Health and Consumers, Directorate C Public health and risk assessment, Luxembourg), Prof. Dr. Marvin Edeas (ISANH) opened the conference with a general outline of the effects of antioxidants on oxidative stress and hyperglycemia.

Next, Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns (KULeuven) presented an overview of Stevia and steviol glycosides in terms of their toxicological and pharmacological effects, including the newest results regarding their radical scavenging activity.

After a short break, Mr. Peter Paul Meli (Malta Enterprise) presented his company as a large contributor to attract foreign investors to Malta.

Next, Mrs. Olivia Sant’Angelo (Innova Market Insight) gave an idea of the developing trends on the Stevia market, especially focusing on the different labeling of food products containing steviol glycosides.

The last speaker of the morning was Mr. Jim May (SweetLeaf Sweeteners) who gave a passionate lecture about his lifelong experience with Stevia, his struggle with the FDA to get approval of the use of steviol glycosides in the United States and about the benefits of water extracted Stevia extracts.

After lunch, Mrs. Katja Obst (Technische Universität München)discussed in detail the sensory profiles of various Stevia extracts. Afterwards, Mrs. Claudia Scholten (Jungbunzlauer Austria)spoke about methods to improve the taste of Stevia by combining with other agents which are able to mask the bitter and liquorice off-notes of Stevia.

Dr. Etienne Jooken (KHBO, VUB)presented his latest results regarding the stability of steviol glycosides in diverse food matrices, including the modified methods to extract them out of food.

After a short break, Mrs. Justine Lord (Naturex) introduced Talin, the brand name for thaumatin, a natural flavor enhancer and taste modifier.

Mrs. Lucy Dahlgren (Bayn Europe) gave the last presentation of the day about the development of synergies to achieve a higher performance of Stevia knowledge and practice.

Her presentation was followed by a head panel discussion led by Prof. Dr. Marvin Edeas (ISANH), Mr. Jim May (SweetLeaf Sweeteners) and Prof. Dr. Jan Geuns (KULeuven). The idea of a World Stevia Organization was discussed, along with strategies to bring Stevia to the public and to translate the underlying science without losing credibility. The discussion was ended with an introduction of Capsentis, an information exchange platform which offers an opportunity to discuss Stevia and spread its knowledge to all levels of society.

The second day of the conference handled the topic of Stevia Growing: Opportunities & Challenge.

Dr. Sourabh Agarwal (India Stevia Association)gave a long lecture about the development of Stevia in India and about the system of contract farming as a solution to achieve a more farmer-oriented production of Stevia and steviol glycosides.

Next, Dr. Yaroslav Shevchenko (Technische Universität Berlin)presented a new cultivation practice based upon liquid sprout cultures of  Stevia. Compared to classical agriculture, sprout cultures of Stevia can be harvested more regularly, with higher yields of biomass and steviol glycosides.

The last lecture on Stevia was given by Mr. Stijn Ceunen (KULeuven). He discussed the biological factors influencing the accumulation of steviol glycosides within the plant and easy methods to achieve higher yields.

To close the conference, Prof. Dr. Marvin Edeas (ISANH) led a discussion to tackle the most important questions on Stevia. It seems that both the manufacturers and the consumers need clear and unambiguous answers as the European Union is nearing the approval of the use of steviol glycosides as food additives.

Finally, the Stevia Innovation Award 2010 was given to Mrs. Justine Lord for the development of Talin^®. The Stevia 2010 Award was given to Mr. Angus Flood and Mr. Jim May of SweetLeaf.

Although technological and scientific advances are adding another few pieces to the Stevia puzzle, it became clear that there is still some work to do regarding the alignment of the different marketing strategies of Stevia. This way, all players will be well prepared for the final approval of the use of steviol glycosides in Europe.

The Council has been created in July 2010 by eleven founding members: Cargill, Corn Products International, GLG Life Tech Corporation, Granular, Morita Kagaku Kogyo, PureCircle Limited, Sunwin, Sweet Green Fields, SweetLeaf Sweeteners, Verdure Sciences Europe and the Whole Earth Sweetener Company.

“All of the founding members share a common vision to promote naturally-sourced Stevia extracts as a way to improve the diets and health of people globally by addressing sugars and calories in food” said Maria Teresa Scardigli, Executive Director of the International Stevia Council.

Membership in the International Stevia Council is open to any company engaged in the processing and/or manufacturing and marketing of Stevia products with a purity level in accordance with JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) specifications. The founding members of the organization have also committed to establish and participate in an industry proficiency testing program to ensure accurate analytical methods for measuring the purity of Stevia extracts.

The International Stevia Council is managed by its staff in its Global Office in Brussels (Belgium).

For more information on the International Stevia Council: