Cargill Inc. and the Dutch ingredients giant Royal DSM this week began churning out a new sugar substitute that mimics stevia, but without using any of the plant.
The Minnetonka-based agribusiness has been working on getting the product, called EverSweet, to market for several years. Earlier this year, it formed a joint venture with Royal DSM, which was working on a similar product, in hopes of expediting the process.
The joint venture โ called Avansya โ started making the stevia-like sweetener at commercial scale at Cargillโs Blair, Neb., plant [the week of Nov. 18].
Stevia is a plant grown in South America that produces a non-calorie sweetener thatโs 250 times sweeter than sugar. EverSweet was inspired by stevia, in that it is made from two key molecules โ Reb M and Reb D โ that give stevia its sweetness. But rather than being grown in nature, EverSweet was made in a lab through fermentation.
Share this article
…
The EverSweet process has raised questions among some consumers concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The process adds a GMO yeast to a fermentation tank where it helps convert simple sugars into Reb M and Reb D …. EverSweet is currently being tested in more than 300 products. Some are expected to hit store shelves in the next year.
Read full, original article: Cargill starts making next-generation sweetener for 2020 debut
