Single Ingredient: natural Stevia
TheONLY PORTIONED 100% STEVIA on the market
 
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Single Ingredient: natural Stevia
The ONLY PORTIONED 100% STEVIA on the market

Manufacturing & Operations

Welcome on this page!
You will learn more about the origin of stevia and how the refined stevia extract is made.

Stevia Story

Stevia is a small, leafy plant that was first discovered more than 200 years ago by the native people in South America. Because of its natural origins and claimed health benefits, it has been heralded as a “miracle sweetener”. It is a plant based naturally-sourced sugar substitute, and has no calories, no carbohydrates, and does not raise blood sugar levels. It is a healthier alternative to artificial sweeteners and sugar. The leaves of the stevia plant are uniquely, naturally sweet and the indigenous people used to chew them for the sweet taste and to sweeten beverages. Today, the sweetness of stevia is extracted and purified into high purity stevia leaf extract and used in foods and beverages around the world. It perfectly works in varieties of foods and beverages such as chocolate, sweets, ketchup, ice cream, yogurts, soft drinks, other sweetened products.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a plant originating in the valley of the Rio Monday in the highlands of Paraguay, close to the Iguazu Falls in the border region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Guarani Indians used the species Stevia Rebaudiana in their food and as medicinal plant for centuries. They called it “Ka’ hé’e,” which means sweet herb, and used it to sweeten foods and to ease the bitterness of the mate.It was described for the first time in 1889 by the Swiss scientist Moses S . Bertoni ( 1857-1929 ). In 1931, French chemists isolated the heterosides which give the sugar taste in this plant: the steviol glycosides (stevioside and rebaudiosides). These molecules have a sweetening power between 200 and 400 times as compared to sugar.

At the beginning of the 1970s, the Japanese began to cultivate the stevia to replace the synthetic edulcorants, such ascyclamate or saccharin, suspected to be carcinogenic.

Stevia is now cultivated and consumed in numerous countries of Asia: China (since 1984), Korea, Thaïwan, Thailand and Malaysia. Some countries like Rwanda and Kenya in Africa also cultivate stevia. And with the emerging global epidemic of diabetes and growing demand of healthy products, stevia extract is now available on many continents.

Safe use of high-purity stevia leaf extract in a variety of foods and beverages has been approved and or adopted in more than 150 countries accross the world. Major health and regulatory orgnaizations including World Health Organization WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization FAO, US Food and Drugs Administration FDA, Health Canada, European Food Safety Authority EFSA, Food Standards Australia New Zealand FSANZ, etc. have approved its consumption by the whole family, including women who are pregnant or nursing, children, and those with diabetes. Indeed, over 200 studies support the science and safety of stevia leaf extract.

Years of approval of the use of high purity stevia extracts by some regulatory agencies:

2012: Health Canada
2011: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) + European Commission
2009: Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA, or French Agency for Food Safety)
2008: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
2008: Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)
2008: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)

Stevia farming

Stevia is a subtropical plant that can reach 40-60 cms, sometimes up to 1 metre in height and blooms in August and September. It requires for an optimal growth, warm temperatures with minimal frost, adequate rainfall, and lot of sunshine (hours a day). Grown by natural, conventional plant breeding methods (i.e., NonGMO, Non-Genetically Modified processes, cross-pollination, etc.), stevia is a low-input environment friendly crop, that has high water use efficiency and can be farmed as non-irrigated rain-fed crop . The overall annual expenditure is less in comparison to short duration crops like vegetables and cereal crops.It is a very resilient crop – not susceptible to most of the agricultural pest and diseases. First harvest can occur 3 months after planting, and mature plants can thereafter be harvested up to three to five times per year.

After harvesting, stevia requires only minimal post-harvest processing to make it non-perishable (sun drying for example). From the over 100 species of stevia that are cultivated throughout the world, we source only superior quality leaves to produce a high quality purified stevia extract for our customers. As a Reelpur consumer, you can feel good about choosing the natural origin sweetness of our stevia; you can enjoy a more healthful and environmentally-friendly diet.

Stevia processing

The sweetness of stevia leaf is due to steviol glycosides that are bio-synthesized in the plant. Like other ingredients commonly used (sugar or sucrose from sugarcane and beet, natural vanilla extract from the vanilla bean), the steviol glycosides are extracted and purified from the stevia leaf to release the sweetness. At the end of the extraction and purification process, the sweet components are the exact same compounds as the ones originally found in the leaf. The process leads to a high-purity stevia extract that meets the specifications approved by major regulatory bodies around the world for use in foods and beverages.

Food Safety & Quality

Over 200 serious studies support the science and safety of stevia leaf extract, and its use has been approved for use by the whole family; it is safe for use by thoses with diabetes, by children and women who are pregnant or nursing, Also according to the studies and data available, there should be no concerns regarding the potential for allergenicity of the stevia plant, or stevia leaf extract.

Offering our customers and consumers top-quality products is the very heart of ReelPur’s mission. To reach this objective, ReelPur has in place a strong Food Safety and Quality Program, to ensure that our products are handled, prepared and stored in ways that prevent food-borne illness, and maintain high quality standards.

Certifications

We follow high manufacturing standards to provide high quality products and excellent services to meet customers’ specifications and requirements for total customer satisfaction.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is an international standard defining the requirements for effective control of food safety. It is endorsed by the Joint FAO/WHO (Food & Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization of the United Nations) Codex Alimentarius Commission. The application of the HACCP principles through our manufacturing processes demonstrates our strong commitment to Food Safety and Quality.

ISO 22000 sets out the requirements for a food safety management system to demonstrate the ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe. ReelPur Stevia is manufactured in an ISO 22 000 certified facility.

We are currently working hard to get certified towards Kosher. However, our products are from vegetal natural source and the production processes meet the Kosher certification principles.

We are currently working hard to get certified towards Halal. However, our products are from vegetal natural source and the production processes meet the Halal certification principles.

ReelPur Inc. sources its stevia leaves from natural source and thus distributes stevia extract that is GMO free. In parallel, we are working hard to get certified towards GMO Free.