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USDA Issues Letter Supporting Safety Of SweetLeaf Sweetener

09/02/2009

Wisdom Natural Brands received a “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regard to the findings of the FDA expert panel of scientists, which concluded that the whole leaf steviol glycosides with rebaudioside A and stevioside, used to formulate the company’s SweetLeaf Sweetener extract, are granted Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status. SweetLeaf Sweetener is Wisdom’s all-natural, zero-calorie, zero-carb and zero-glycemic index stevia sweetener.

SweetLeaf received GRAS status in March, 2008, when GRAS Associates, an independent panel of scientists, awarded SweetLeaf stevia GRAS status pursuant to FDA regulations. FDA regulations allow companies to independently determine by qualified food science experts, through a self-affirmation process, that an ingredient is generally recognized as safe. To prove the point even further, Wisdom obtained a concurring opinion from the Life Science Research Office, which independently agreed with GRAS Associates’ original findings. Wisdom submitted their GRAS notification to the FDA in February, 2009, and is the only company in America known to ever contract with two separate and distinct panels of scientists to determine the GRAS status of a product independently of one another and of the company making the product.