Several days ago, a small New Zealand based company called BioVittoria received an FDA GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status for its “Fruit-Sweetness” brand low-calorie sweetener:

The sweetener is made from Chinese-grown luo han fruit. It is 200 times sweeter than cane sugar and sells for about $450kg, mostly to beverage, food and confectionary manufacturers.

The company expects to process 3000 tonnes of fruit from Miao and Yao hill tribe growers in mountainous areas of Guangxi province, southern China. read more…

The sweetener comes in powder form and can be used in flavors, foods, beverages, gums, baked goods, dietary supplements, powdered drinks, nutritional bars, and chocolates, according to Food Navigator.

What you need to know:

The luo han fruit is also known as Monk Fruit. The sweet components of  the fruit, mogrosides, are naturally very low in calories. When extracted from the fruit and concentrated, the mogrosides are 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, very similar to stevia extracts.

While this is good news for BioVittoria, and may also help Guangxi’s hill tribes, we have a question.

Does the world really need another sweetener?

We already consume too much sweet food. Instead of trying to train our taste buds to enjoy other flavors, we are looking for workarounds that may trick our metabolism.We are so used to extra-sweet, that when we eat a banana or an apple it is suddenly bland and tasteless. No wonder kids who drink chocolate milk for lunch don’t like to eat fruit for dessert.

What to do at the supermarket:

What’s with the sweet tooth people? Grow up and start eating real food. Drink water if you’re thirsty. Sugar and sweeteners should be relegated to special occasions, not every single meal and snack.

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