FDBusiness.com

PureCircle has announced that rebaudioside M (“Reb M”) has secured a significant regulatory approval milestone for use as an ingredient in European food and beverage.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that Reb M is safe and can be now used in the European Union as a sweetener.

In a new scientific opinion paper EFSA’s Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources (“EFSA’s panel”) concluded that Reb M should be included as part of the steviol glycoside specification for stevia leaf extracts from the stevia plant. The opinion paper will be evaluated by European member states in January 2016 with final authorization later in the year. Once finalized, Reb M will join the 10 steviol glycosides already approved for use in Europe. European approval follows USA FDA GRAS approval for Reb M in December 2013 and will mean that Reb M is approved for use in the world’s two largest sweetener markets.

EFSA’s panel also concluded that provided the total amount of the 11 steviol glycosides in a composition is greater than 95%, specific composition was not of concern. This means the current requirement that 75% of the composition be stevioside and/or rebaudioside A will no longer be necessary.

“Through our PureCircle Stevia Agronomy Program, we have been scaling stevia leaf naturally and increasing the volume of sugar-like steviol glycosides, such as Reb M, with traditional breeding techniques,” said PureCircle’s Chief Operating Officer Jordi Ferre. “Through breakthrough advances in traditional stevia plant breeding, we are now growing stevia varieties that contain over 20 times the amount of rare steviol glycosides versus other leaf available on the market.”