Stevia (Steviol Glycosides)
The question

Is Stevia (Steviol Glycosides) safe in diet sodas?

ClearedDiet sodas

A plant-derived zero-calorie sweetener from the stevia leaf. High-purity steviol glycosides (like Reb A) have a strong safety record — FDA treats them as GRAS and they have an established Acceptable Daily Intake. The rating applies to the purified extract, not raw/whole-leaf stevia.

What the research flags

  • This rating applies to HIGH-PURITY steviol glycosides (>=95%, e.g., Rebaudioside A/M) — the form FDA treats as GRAS; whole-leaf stevia and crude stevia extracts are NOT approved by FDA for use as sweeteners and remain under Import Alert 45-06 due to insufficient safety data
  • Steviol glycosides are not absorbed intact — gut bacteria hydrolyze them to steviol, giving them negligible calories; toxicological evaluations support their safety, and the established Acceptable Daily Intake is 4 mg/kg body weight per day (as steviol equivalents) (Peng et al., Frontiers in Nutrition 2026 review; EFSA/JECFA)

Regulatory
IARC Class: NL

Other diet sodas ingredients on file

Sources & references

  1. [1]
    Peer-reviewedPubMed / NCBI — pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · ref 41777858
  2. [2]
    RegulatoryUS federal agency — high-intensity-sweeteners

Research disclaimer: Ratings reflect peer-reviewed research and regulatory assessments available at the time of publication, not the dose or formulation of any specific diet sodas product. This is not medical advice.