Stevita Co. ( Oscar Rodes) Vs. the FDA

In 1988, Oscar Rodes, the President and  founder of Stevita Co. Inc., introduced to the US market the pure stevia extract (steviosides) and teas sweetened with  ground stevia  leaves, harvested and extracted in Brazi.

The steviosides ( stevia extract) would be a new form of stevia in the market because  until  that time only  leaves ,  whole or ground  or in the form of syrup, were available to the US consumer.   Oscar Rodes contacted FDA officials to find out if there was any objection for the sale of the  pure extract .

Even though stevia logically  should be classified as a GRAS substance (  a natural product in use prior to 1958 by a large population without any report of adverse health effect) and automatically safe as a food ingredient, FDA did not agree with this logical classification and  denied Oscar Rodes the permit to sell the pure extract in the  local market unless he subjected his extract to a battery of pharmacological studies that would cost multi-million dollars,  taking several years to  complete and with no guarantee of  approval  because of  political reasons.  As a result ,  he  cancelled  the introduction of the pure extract  and continued selling  the teas which used only ground leaves as ingredients.

On June 20th, 1991  FDA agents  accompanied by US Marshals showed up at  his  Arlington, TX, warehouse and announced that all stevia teas in the warehouse , by court order,  had been subjected to seizure and condemnation in the form of burning  because  the teas contained stevia, which  was an  adulterated food item.  On the following month FDA  issued an import alert and banned   all food products containing stevia in the USA.

After  Congress passed the  Dietary Supplement and Education Act  of 1994 (DSHEA)which allowed stevia products to be sold as dietary supplements,  Oscar Rodes attempted to   reintroduce the pure stevia extract in the  US  market in 1996, properly labeled as a dietary supplement. with the trade name "SteviaSweet".   However, on the very first  shipment ,  FDA customs inspectors  detained the entire shipment because the word  "sweet" in the trade name.  According to the inspectors , the word "sweet"  rendered the product "adulterated" thus unfit for human consumption.  Later on, Oscar reintroduced the same product in the US market, properly relabeled as dietary supplement,  with  the "Stevita" trade name.

In late 1997 FDA agents inspected  Stevita's warehouse in Arlington and  subsequently issued "warning letters". The main issue was that  Stevita Co.was selling third parties books about stevia. Some of the books mentioned the history, chemistry, and uses of stevia around the world, and that  the primary  use of stevia in some countries was as a sweetener. According to  FDA 's interpretation, these books rendered  all the stevia products in Stevita Co's  warehouse as adulterated because stevia was not approved as a sweetener.  Stevita Co's attorneys contested this interpretation with FDA officials , but  during this time of dispute FDA"s agents were  confiscating  all Stevita's stevia shipments.

Finally, on May 1998, with his stevia inventory almost depleted,  Oscar  decided to make a deal with FDA by promising to stop selling the books  in exchange for  the  release of his inventory by the FDA, so that Stevita could continue in business.  On May  19th,  Oscar received a fax from FDA with the following order:  " The agency appreciates Stevita Co. express intention to comply with the Law. However, a current inventory must be taken by an investigator of this office, who will also be available to witness destruction of the cookbooks, literature and other publications.." Also,  Oscar was ordered to recall all the books he had sold and destroy them.  He  refused to destroy the books - he had agreed to stop selling but not destroy them - and the dispute continued with Stevita Co practically shutting down because of  the lack of inventory.  Finally, thanks to intervention by the press and  assistance from some  members of Congress, on June 29,  FDA advised Stevita Co's ' attorney that he could continue selling the books with the exception of a cookbook which named  Stevita stevia as one ingredient in some of the  recipes.

The books that were ordered to be destroyed:

The Stevia Story by Linda and Bill Bonvie and Donna Gates,

Cooking with Stevia by James and Tanya Kirkland,

Nature's Sweet Secret by David Richards

As of today, FDA has still not approved, or at least  its position is not clear,  on the use of   stevia extract  with all its sweet components  as a  food in this country.  FDA has assigned GRAS status to only stevia recrystalized extracts with high concentration of  Rebaudioside A (Reb A),   only  one of the  several sweet components of the  stevia leaf.

For more info go to:

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