Science Facts: Stevioside

Stevioside is an alternative sweeter that's pretty much as natural as regular sugar. It comes from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, an herb native to South America. Now, something being natural doesn't mean that it's safe, but one would probably have to ingest roughly 1kg of pure stevioside to suffer adverse effects. Eating this much stevioside is unlikely because it is roughly 300 times sweeter than sucrose.