How sweet it is(n't)

The problem with artificial sweeteners is that they only fake the taste of sweetness.

You know the real taste of sweet - honey, fresh fruit, caramelized carrots or onions. In other words, real sugars. The benefits of these lay in their basis as real foods. They have real nutritive qualities.

Now, we have a new sweetener - Truvia. Made by Cargill, this artificial sweetener lays claim to a natural, plant-based heritage. Cargill produced a video testimonial showing consumers dipping strawberries into the powdery sweetener. The consumers, who were at a product launch party at Rockefeller Plaza, marveled at the sweetness. Well, gee, aren't strawberries kind of sweet to begin with?

Federal regulators approved Truvia Dec. 16. PepsiCo. has been working on its own version, PureVia.

Truvia is derived from the leaf of the plant stevia (pronounced steve-ee-uh). Here is the Web site of an herbal company that has been promoting the use of stevia for several years. The site has a condensed history of the plant, which has its origins in Paraguay. Natives used it fresh and dried for centuries. Turns out that synthesizing the sweet compounds of the plant is nothing new. The French started doing so in the 30s. The Japanese in the 60s. In the early 90s, the U.S. banned the marketing of stevia unless labeled as a supplement, setting off many conspiracy theories, mostly that it was being blocked by the sugar industry.

So, what's unique about Cargill's usage of stevia? Cargill says it uses only the sweetest portion of the stevia leaf, the rebiana. This it combines with erythritol and natural sweeteners. Erythritol itself is a natural sugar alcohol, one that tends to have bad aftertastes if it is not diluted in water. In a 3.5 gram serving of Truvia, you are getting 3 grams of erythritol.

Use Truvia, and really what you're getting is a little bit of stevia, a whole lot of the sugar alcohol erythritol. Erythritol also is a laxative. Just because Truvia has zero calories should not be a license to indulge, or you will learn this the hard (soft) way.

So, have I tried Truvia? Not yet. I tend to steer clear of artificial sweeteners of all kinds. Generally, they're used to mask poor-tasting foods.

Instead, I opt for good tasting, natural foods. Prepared correctly, even a bitter brussels sprout can be tasty. As for Truvia's taste test, I'll take my strawberries without sugar or Truvia. Taste the goodness in real foods.

And if you have to have the taste of stevia, put a little bit of the natural leaf in your mouth.