Has anybody tried RebM? (zero calorie sweetener)

Cafe Society
1

RebM is a sweetening chemical found in Stevia. It is not the primary sweetener in stevia though, that would be RebA. RebA has an after taste, and slight bitter properties.

Descriptions I’m reading say that RebM is 350-400 times sweeter than sugar, without any of the after taste or bitterness of RebA. But then, all new sweeteners say something similar. As I am particularly sensitive to the negative flavors of fake sugar in general, I usually stay away from them. But this one interests me because I really like fresh stevia grown int he yard. I just can’t stand the granulized preparations. This leads me to believe that I might be OK with RebM.

Still, I’d like to hear a review from somebody other than their marketers before I try it. This stuff is not cheap! Anybody tried it?

2

I haven’t tried it, although thanks to you bringing this to my attention I probably will. I consulted an AI about it, just for grins, and found that it has a “no harm” approval from the FDA, apparently since 2017, and that industry sources in general support the claims of intensity of sweetness and lack of aftertaste. There has been little or no long-term research about possible specific health affects. There are descriptions of the processing available online. I did not find any information about whether it can be used for cooking.

Checking the price on Amazon, one called Puriva at 30 grams is $40, which is expensive compared to a comparable amount of sugar. 30 grams is apparently equivalent to 1200 teaspoons of sugar, or about 25 cups (more than a 10-pound bag). A 10-pound bag of sugar normally costs from $7.50 to $12.50, as far as I can see by what’s quoted online, which does make Puriva around 4x more expensive. Whether 25 mg of Puriva sweetens as well as 1 tsp of table sugar also remains to be confirmed. (This serving size comparison is nowhere near 350-400 times as sweet as sugar, by the way).

3

Artificial sweeteners are not normally sold in pure form; they are dispersed in a carrier, like dextrose.

I have never used stevia, though I once bought some stevia-sweetened soda once. It was unspeakably vile, and I will not repeat the experience.

4

Stevia is a product, sort of like cilantro, with some flavor components that a certain fraction of the populace cannot stand and the rest of us can’t even taste.

If stevia sucks for you, well then, it sucks for you. You’re certainly not alone in that.