For years and years I've been using Kal brand stevia.
I tried many different brands of Stevia. Some have a peculiar aftertaste, and Kal brand doesn't.
I also liked the ingredients "Stevia extract. No additional ingredients." I don't buy Truvia or Sweet Leaf or anything that has additional ingredients in it. Why should I? All I want is pure stevia extract.
So today I look at the jar Kal brand stevia as I sweeten my tea, and out of the corner of my eye, I see the word maltodextrin. WHAT? Maltodextrin? Isn't that a sugar or a starch? It is a Polysaccharide which is defined as:
Any of a class of carbohydrates, such as starch and cellulose, consisting of a number of monosaccharides joined by glycosidic bonds. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/polysaccharide
When did this start? Why didn't they tell me they changed the ingredients? (Put "New and improved" or something on the label). I feel I've been had.
Upon further investigation I find:
Maltodextrin comes from treated grain starch, primarily corn or rice starch. It can also come from wheat and potatoes, but is less common in the U.S. Hydrolyze this starch by adding some enzymes and acids, filter and purify it some more and you get either Maltodextrin, or Corn Syrup Solids. The difference is that Maltodextrin is hydrolyzed to have less than 20% sugar content, whereas Corn Syrup Solids have more than 20%. It gives fat-like body to food products, increases their shelf life, and mixes quite well with other ingredients. It's also cheap to make and produce. Though not a sugar, it still has a glycemic index of 130 by itself (table sugar is only 65). http://fitnessfortravel.com/is-malt...in-bad-for-you/
Aren't I buying Stevia to get away from high glycemic foods?
And most of the corn in the USA is made from GMO corn. GMO corn has:
- An insecticide gene spliced into the corn genome. This causes the insect's gut to perforate when it eats the corn, killing the insect. Is it coincidence that after GMO corn was introduced to the USA the number of human leaky gut syndrome cases skyrocketed through the roof?
- GMO corn is engineered ti withstand massive doses of Round-up (a known carcinogen). The weeds have evolved to become resistant to Round-up, so mega-tons of round up is applied to the plants. Some of that carcinogenic Round-up is absorbed into the corn, and more rides along on top of it so that when you eat GMO corn, you are also getting a dose of a strong carcinogen.
As of today, I will no longer recommend Kal brand stevia.
So that leaves me with the question.
Does anybody know of a pure stevia extract (no additional ingredients is important) that doesn't have the nasty aftertaste that some inferior stevia products have?
Thanks.
Bob
PS, if you are a Kal user, please go to Kal
http://www.nutraceutical.com/contact-us/ and tell them you aren't going to buy their Stevia unless they get the maltodextrin out of it.