Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) is the amount of a food additive, expressed on a body-weight basis, which can be consumed in a diet every day throughout life without health risks.  It is the most important tool used by international scientific bodies to ensure the appropriate and safe use of food additives. Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) use the same method to derive the Acceptable Daily Intake.

To put this number into perspective, a 150-pound person would need to consume approximately 30 packets of a tabletop STEVIA sweetener.  Additionally, studies published in the May 2008 issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology showed that even very high amounts of STEVIA (comparable to a 150-pound person drinking 2,000 8-ounce servings of a 100% STEVIA-sweetened beverage) had no effect on general health.^[36]

The above information and suggestions have been reviewed by Dr. Keith AYOOB, a member of the Global STEVIA Institute Advisory Board.

STEVIA extracts have excellent solubility in a wide range of applications.  STEVIA extracts are extremely heat, photo and pH stable under a wide range of processing conditions and have exhibited excellent shelf stability.

pH meaning “potential hydrogen,” is a measure of hydrogen in concentration and is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution or substance.  When a solution or substance is alkaline or has alkalinity, it means it has the ability to neutralize acids.  Alkalinity is expressed as a pH number, on a scale of 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral; neither acidic nor alkaline. A substance measuring a pH level between 7 and 14 is alkaline, and is called basic (or a base). The closer a substance is to pH 14, the more alkaline it is. ^[37]

Two of the main factors leading to cancer are an acidic pH and a lack of oxygen.  We know that cancer needs an acidic and low oxygen environment to survive and flourish.  If our pH level falls to 5.5 or below, our body simply cannot fight diseases as our pH is not properly balanced. ^[37]

STEVIA is, in fact, one of the high alkalizing sweeteners available that could help prevent cancer. ^[37] According to Dr. Ken Yasukawa in the 2002 issue of “Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin,” STEVIOL compounds and molecules derived from STEVIA leaves were tested for potential anti-cancer effects and the results were encouraging.  The STEVIOL molecules successfully blocked the effects of 12-Otetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate or TPA in mice.  TPA is a potent carcinogen capable of spurring cancer growth.  By inhibiting the effect of TPA, extracted molecules from STEVIA might have an anti-cancer effect. ^[38]