Stevia venture
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
A joint venture by stevia producer GLG Life Tech and fitness product firm Weider Global Nutrition aims to bring dietary and tabletop supplements made with stevia leaf extracts into international markets, GLG announces Sept. 9. GLG Weider Sweet Naturals Corp. will leverage the stevia extraction expertise of Vancouver, British Columbia-based GLG, and the sales and distribution capacities of Salt Lake City-based Weider to "provide consumers a great tasting, natural and zero-calorie alternative to artificial sweeteners and calorie-laden sugar," says GLG President Brian Palmieri. Though multiple U.S. companies are either marketing or developing stevia-based sweeteners, FDA has not declared the substance safe as a food additive and consumer groups have questioned stevia safety data (1"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 1, 2008, p. 16)