Stevia Sweeteners Produce 10% Less Greenhouse Gas Emissions vs. Sugar — Research

New research claims that stevia sweeteners are more environmentally friendly than regular sugar because they emit 10% fewer greenhouse gases.

In order to improve consumer health, there is growing interest in substituting non-nutritive sweeteners for added sugar in beverages and foods.

There has been a lot of research into sweetener safety, yet not much on sustainability.

Stevia Sweeteners and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

According to recent research from the University of Surrey, stevia-based natural sweeteners can provide the same sweetness as sugar while emitting as little as 10% of greenhouse gases.

Researchers' Life Cycle Assessment of steviol glycosides derived from stevia showed that the production of this sweetener has a less harmful effect on the environment than that of sugar in several ways.

According to the assessment, stevia can provide the same sweetness levels as sugar while also having the potential to use less water and land.

Health and the Environment

Like sugar, many non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), such as steviol glycosides, can mimic its flavor without negative health effects like tooth decay, obesity, or diabetes.

They are much sweeter than sugar, which enables them to do this.

Since steviol glycosides are 250 times sweeter than sugar, 4g of them, for instance, have the same sweetness as 1,000g of sugar.

Steviol glycoside use and other natural products of a similar nature may be beneficial for the environment, according to Dr. James Suckling, the study's lead author, and researcher at the University of Surrey's Centre for Environment and Sustainability.

Suckling readily acknowledges that much more research is necessary to fully comprehend the effects of steviol glycosides as well as other non-nutritive sweeteners on health when included in a larger diet, though, SciTech Daily reported.

The study by Suckling and several colleagues was published in January this year in the journal The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

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Sustainable Stevia Sweeteners

Since stevia has no calories and is intensely sweet, it is a well-liked natural sweetener.

Stevia, which was once only grown in South America, is now grown worldwide, with China being the largest producer.

The production techniques used in China are not well known, however, in the country, sustainable farming is not common.

Second-largest stevia producer by a wide margin is Paraguay.

Indigenous farmers have historically grown it there, but in a clear case of biopiracy, they have been largely excluded from the $650 million/year industry.

Stevia is a crop with a lower environmental impact than corn or sugarcane because it needs less space and less input.

Stevia extract is processed with minimal resources compared to refined sugarcane.

However, consumers should use caution as there are various brand names of refined or even synthetic stevia available.

it is highly recommended to read the labels of sweeteners carefully when purchasing.

According to a carbon and water footprint analysis conducted by PureCircle, one of the biggest stevia producers, stevia has a carbon footprint per unit of sweetness that is 79% lower than that of corn syrup with a high fructose content, 55% lower than that of beet sugar, and 29% less than that of cane sugar, Earth911 reported.