PureCircle Welcomes New Codex Stevia Maximum-Use Levels

Stevia supplier PureCircle (Chicago) says it welcomes the new definition of maximum steviol glycoside levels in the Codex Alimentarius. At a Codex meeting in early July, the Codex commission accepted the proposal by the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) to define such levels.

The Codex Alimentarius was created by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and is used to provide food standards for the international market.

“As part of the adoption, the approved maximum-use levels across all major food and beverage categories have now been defined,” PureCircle stated. “This is the last outstanding major approval that will unlock a number of important markets such as India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Such countries look for the Codex adoption of a food ingredient to support their evaluation and approval.”

PureCircle CEO Magomet Malsagov added on July 7, “This has been an important week for approval and adoption of stevia as a mainstream food ingredient around the globe. Earlier this week, we had a positive vote by the EU Standing Committee recommending steviol glycosides in Europe. We now welcome this week’s Codex adoption, which will help to open all remaining new markets for PureCircle’s high-purity stevia products around the world.”