NutritionEd:

It’s been a Natural Health sweetener for years yet usually only found at health food stores. Now, Stevia is coming to the masses (in the US at least) as big brands like Coka-Cola and PepsiCo release their versions to the world; with all their distribution and brand power behind it.

I always find it interesting when products such as this, which have had relatively low consumption rates in the past due to their niche marketing, are suddenly distributed by large multinational corporations thereby significantly increasing the consumption pattern. It effectively results in a huge societal safety experiment where unforseen/untested properties may come to light. Sure, Stevia (and its components) have gone through some clinical safety research, albeti much of it provided by the distributing companies themselves. Indeed some research suggests a concern for possible DNA damage caused by one of the chemical extracts.  And DNA damage is often linked to risk of Cancer. With the potential for exponential consumption of Stevia if its marketing is successful, only time will tell its true colours. For society is replete with examples of “safe” products whose dangers only manifest themselves when consumed on a societal scale.

Sidenote: I wonder what happened to Tagatose? Another natural sweetener that was big in the media a few years ago. I’ll have to check into it!

In response to a recent comment on one of my posts regarding Salmon I thought it would be helpful to post this link out there which highlights other, less common, choices for fish. It details several varieties of fish (along with their common monikers) that are purported to be more healthy when eaten and more environmentally friendly when fished. Something I am definitely going to try out is Arctic Char. This was a fish that was sometimes provided as the Special Meal of the day at the Pepper Mill restaurant in Canmore; where I worked for many years and was an instrumental factor in my future interest in cooking. The dish always received rave reviews yet I still haven’t tried it myself. Time to change that!

Check out Safe and Lesser-Known Fish Choices for the details.