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BetterStevia Liquid Sweetener


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Delicious BetterStevia Liquid Stevia is an excellent addition to your favorite beverages and is especially suited for sweetening coffees and teas - just a few drops is all you need to add a burst of flavored sweetness to any beverage, hot or cold! It is the low-calorie, gluten-free sweetener that's 60 to 100 times the sweetness of ordinary table sugar. With a variety of clean, refreshing flavors that complement many foods and beverages, BetterStevia is a great addition to almost any healthy diet. BetterStevia is produced using special measures to preserve the full-spectrum of the Stevia herb’s natural qualities to create a uniquely pure and better-tasting Stevia.

What is Stevia ?

Stevia is an herb indigenous to Paraguay and Brazil that grows 2--3 feet tall and resembles mint in appearance . The South American native Guarani Indians used this green "sweet herb" they called "kaa he-he" for centuries before a European botanist named M.S. Bertoni first learned of this unique plant from the native guides while exploring Paraguay in 1887. Bertoni gave it its Latin name – Stevia Rebaudiana. Though prior to the early 1900s Stevia was a plant harvested in the wild it soon thereafter was being grown in abundance on plantations in many locations all over the world. Much of the Stevia grown today is cultivated in China. NOW’s Stevia is grown in organic certified fields in the plains of central eastern China. The cultivation fields are certified organic by a German agency.

Sometime between 1918 and 1921 the USDA was introduced to this wonderfully sweet herb but because of political and other interests Stevia was not accepted as a natural sweetener. The compounds in Stevia that give the herb its sweet taste, called Steviosides, were isolated by French scientists in 1931.

Stevia has been used in the U.S. as a dietary supplement since 1994, but in December 2008 the FDA granted GRAS status to certain types of Stevia extracts (specifically Reb.A) to be used as a sweetener. NOW Stevia gained Self Affirmed GRAS status in 2010 and is now sold as a sweetener (BetterStevia).

How is NOW's Stevia produced?

NOW's Stevia extract is produced utilizing a patented process which involves extraction from the natural plant Stevia leaves using only water and alcohol. The resulting extract is then prepared with a vegetarian-source enzyme (glucosyl transferase) to reduce the licorice-like and metallic aftertaste of regular stevia extracts. NOW’s Stevia is USDA Certified Organic. The following are not used and not allowed: pesticides, fumigants, irradiation, other solvents, and sulfur dioxide.

Is NOW’s Stevia natural?

NOW’s Stevia is derived directly from the natural Stevia plant. It is processed by extraction and then enzymatically prepared. See what natural means to us and why we consider our BetterStevia to be natural.

Natural is Better

NOW Foods was founded on the belief that natural is better. They are committed to sourcing the very best natural ingredients for our products, and we choose non-GMO, non-irradiated, and organic ingredients whenever possible. “Natural” is not an idle word to us. It’s why our business exists and thrives. In addition to their passion for nutritional excellence, NOW supports social and environmental efforts throughout their industry and community. NOW regularly hosts conservation and clean-up events in support of Make a Difference Day and Earth Week; a tradition which goes back over a decade.

NOW continually strives to improve and serve as an inspiration to anyone concerned with protecting our planet and its precious natural resources. Recent sustainability progress includes:

  • Installation of an automatic night cooling system which allows more efficient control of warehouse temperatures.
  • Expansion of in-house recycling and reuse programs to include food dust collections from dust collectors and filter cleaning.  This material is offered for beneficial reuse as hog feed supplement.
  • Holding annual Christmas & holiday light recycling drives.
  • Installation of a rain/moisture sensor to prevent unnecessary landscape watering.
  • Providing free barrels to the Village of Bloomingdale for use as trash receptacles in parks, and to SCARCE for use in resource collection drives.
  • Hosting an educational booth at the 2nd annual Cantigny Green Fair.
  • Setting printers to default to double-sided printing.
  • Installation of an LED company building sign.
  • Installation of filtered water stations for re-filling personal water containers.
  • Sharing information on sustainable business practices at STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Teachers Workshop.
  • Promoting rain barrel usage with our staff.
  • Educating staff on recycling opportunities for electronics and household hazardous waste.
  • Switching to 100% recycled content shipping boxes.