PureCircle has announced that recent advances in capacity expansion now enable it to deliver significantly more Reb M to the global A&B industry.
PureCircle can now supply enough Reb M to sweeten approximately 500 million cases of zero-calorie sodas. The company continues to expand its production capacity and estimates that within three years it could supply enough Reb M to sweeten one billion cases of zero-calorie sodas or their equivalents in beverages and foods using Reb M as a sweetener.
In addition, PureCircle estimates that, depending on the quantities purchased and terms of purchase, companies that purchase Reb M from PureCircle will find that the cost of using it to sweeten a beverage or food is equal to the cost of using sugar to achieve the same level of sweetness.
Reb M is a type of stevia sweetener that tastes most like sugar and is most preferred by food and beverage companies.
Until now, Reb M was only present in relatively small amounts in common stevia plants and was a challenge. PureCircle has created its own variety of the stevia plant which it calls Starleaf stevia. Contains higher amounts of Reb M than regular stevia plants. PureCircle is growing its Starleaf crops on a large scale.
PureCircle produces Reb M directly from the Starleaf stevia plant and other stevia sweeteners in the plant. In another case, PureCircle starts with a purified low-Reb M stevia leaf extract, and by adding enzymes, the maturation is completed to Reb M, just as the leaf does naturally. Enzymes play a similar role in various products such as baby food, cheese, other dairy products and chocolate.
Reb M produced from the two processes equally originates from the stevia leaf and is identical in its excellent taste. None of PureCircle’s stevia sweeteners, produced using any of the above processes, are genetically modified.
Furthermore, they are all “GRAS”. “GRAS” is a US Food and Drug Administration designation that stands for “generally recognized as safe” by experts.
PureCircle’s expansion of Reb M production will help companies obtain supplies of the much-needed ingredient by responding to consumer demand for more calorie-free and low-calorie products that use organic sweeteners.
