STEVIA - TRUVIA WHAT ARE THEY? ARE THEY SAFE?

Ok, so there has been a lot of press regarding these sweeteners but do we actually know what they are? what are Stevia and Truvia?

The stevia plant is part of the Asteraceae family, related to the daisy and ragweed. Several stevia species called "candyleaf" are native to New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, so is Stevia safe? The FDA has allowed companies to use an isolated chemical from stevia as food additive, calling the chemical "generally recognized as safe." Now, products such as Truvia and others have the legal go-ahead to use Rebaudioside A, which is also found in stevia, in their no-calorie sweeteners.

But there are some health concerns surrounding the stevia plant. Stevia may cause low blood pressure, which would be of concern to some taking blood pressure medications.

"Caution is advised when using medications that may also lower blood sugar. People taking insulin or drugs for diabetes by mouth should be monitored closely by a qualified health care professional, including a pharmacist," Ulbricht said.

Our bodies are not designed or evolved to handle calorie-free sweeteners–be it natural or artificial. Experiencing a sweet taste from a food that is not going to provide glucose confounds our body’s sugar-handling process.

Stevia is “sweet” on the palate, so the body assumes it is receiving sugar and primes itself to do so. Glucose is cleared from the bloodstream and blood sugars drop, but no real sugar/glucose is provided to the body to compensate. When this happens, adrenaline and cortisol surge to mobilize sugar from other sources (liver and muscle glycogen, or protein, or body tissue) to bring blood glucose back up.

Stevia often contains other ingrediants - Natural flavors: a.k.a “this could be anything.” , Xylitol–Truvia is a popular sweetener made with stevia and xylitol. Although proponents bestow the title “natural” to this sweetener, I’ve never eaten Truvia because I’m not a fan of this uber-processed ingredient.while i was doing some research i found an artical regarding Xylitol here is an extract -

Xylitol


Xylitol is, after all, a naturally occurring substance. Manufacturers of xylitol market it as derived from xylan, which is found in the fibers of many plants including berries, oats, beets, sugar cane and birch. Sounds pretty harmless.The FDA has even granted xylitol GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status. You can’t get any safer than that, right?

How Xylitol is Manufactured

While it is true that xylitol is a naturally occurring substance, manufactured xylitol is another matter entirely. Commercially available xylitol is produced by the industrialized process of sugar hydrogenation.   
In order to hydrogenate anything, a catalyst is needed, and in the case of xylitol, Raney nickel is used which is a powdered nickel-aluminum alloy.

Can we say heavy metal residue? 

Xylitol doesn’t seem quite so warm and fuzzy anymore, does it?
While there is currently no literature on any detrimental health effects of consuming hydrogenated sugar, it is important to note that hydrogenated fats and oils were used for many years before the very damaging effects to health became widely known.Given the violent industrialized process that is required to produce a hydrogenated sugar like xylitol, it would seem wise to avoid it based on the very poor track record of hydrogenated foods in general!

Truvia and Stevia were only licenced as a ingredient in the UK in 2011, do we really know enough about these sweeteners to say they are safe? you decide.

Happy Eating!

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All comments in this blog are of my own opinion.

OLD JAMAICA CHOCOLATE

This morning while I was looking around the shops I spotted an old favorite I used to love, It was totally unrecognizable though and I personally thought it had been discontinued many years ago, It made me wonder how many other people knew it was still being sold??

 

I remember the old packaging and after looking on line I found an example from 1973, this is what iv been keeping an eye out for! Not the new ultra modern packaging Cadburys have today, In my opinion the new packaging is HORRID and says nothing about whats inside the pack at all, you can see this by just comparing the packs.
This is what really gets my goat about design company's, when someone wants to bring their products together in a uniformed way they also need to keep the products heritage, something that Cadbury's have passed over and probably lost sales in doing so! (Rant Over)

The chocolate itself smells wonderful  you can smell the distinctive dark rum flavour as soon as you open the pack, having a look at the fruit content there doesn't seem to be much in the bar and iv broken quite a bit up just to get a picture of a raisin.

The taste seems to have changed as well from what i remember, it is still familiar but I think there has been alterations to the recipe, the rum flavour is still prominent but it just seems different in some way and I feel disappointed and deflated after finding this gem after such a long time.

Summing up.

Deflated and disappointed in the packaging and the amount of actual fruit in the chocolate, after thinking to myself yippee old Jamaica chocolate, I don't think I would ever buy this again a bit sad really because I used to love this product, see what you think?

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer


All the comments in this blog are of my own personal opinion

FUDGE FANCIES.

This is a relatively new contender in the Gourmet Fudge marketplace, who I stumbled across while surfing the World Wide Web, It caught my eye because after working in the fudge industry for a number of years, I had never seen Fudge made in such a way!, Most of us think of fudge as a brown sugary confection we enjoy as a treat, but this “Small British Company” has taken that Idea, put it in a box, shaken it about a bit and ended up with the most wonderfully eye-catching, mouth-watering treat you will ever see!

Started in 2010 by Michael, a plasterer by trade, but with a passion for gastronomy, he tweaked and perfected his Grandmother’s family recipe and so Fudge Fancies was born.

The fudge is packaged beautifully in a plain white classic box with a hand tied black ribbon, you just know whatever is inside is unmistakably handmade, I can’t wait to open it to see what delights are awaiting inside.

I open the lid in anticipation and WOW the aroma of the delectable fudge hits you, it’s like you have just walked into the most wonderful smelling shop you could ever imagine!

Yours eyes are taken aback by the vision of the toppings, the colours and textures are the first things your eyes see as you focus on which one looks the most tempting

 “I want to eat everything in seconds”

My mouth is watering just looking at the little fancies that are just waiting to be taken out.

I have:  Sticky Toffee Pudding, Apple Crumble, Dark Chocolate & Orange Zest and White Chocolate Lemon & Lime, Oh decisions – decisions, which one shall I try first?

Let’s start with the apple crumble, (I've always loved it)

I take a sniff and “Oh My Word” it smells just like Freshly Baked apple crumble!! The topping is amazing with its rough pieces of different shapes.

I pop a piece in my mouth and the soft fudge just melts into a creamy explosion that ignites your taste buds, the white chocolate starts to melt and you find pieces of real apple hidden inside and a hint of cinnamon?, now I've tasted thousands of fudges in my time and have to say at this point this fudge has just gone straight into my top spot! I've never in my entire time in the confectionery industry tasted fudge so smooth but with a hidden depth.

Next is the dark chocolate & orange zest.

The aroma is again amazing, you can smell the fresh orange zest and the dark chocolate, I pop a piece in my mouth and the fudge again just melts away “it’s so soft” the zingy orange zest is a delight and the dark chocolate is not overpowering, it leaves you wanting more.

Now for the sticky toffee pudding.

The first thing you notice is the little bit of date on top of the white chocolate, the unmistakable aroma of the chocolate fudge, I pop a piece in my mouth and YEP it is sticky toffee pudding, the toffee, dates and chocolate all combine in that amazing pudding taste all en-robed in the delicately smooth fudge.

Lastly it’s the white chocolate lemon& lime. 

I love the lemon and lime zest on top of this fancy the aroma it defiantly of lime and brings back the memories of a fresh mojito, the fudge melts to perfection yet again and you get the freshness of the lemon & lime and the melting white chocolate it’s an amazing combination!

Summing up.

Today has changed my opinion on fudge as I know it, Fudge Fancies are on to a winner with this amazing take on this classic confection, it’s something no one else is doing, I think this small British company will go far, from what Michael has achieved so far, I have no doubt we will soon be seeing a lot more of these delightful little fancies, Top End high street stores I fear will be knocking on their door very shortly and if not should be! 

If you have not tried them yet you should, i assure you it will tickle your taste-buds.

Find Fudge Fancies Here http://www.fudgefancies.co.uk/

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer

All comments in this blog are of my own opinion

STRAWBERRY LIQUORICE

Looking around for something different to try, I stumbled across Henry Goode's strawberry liquorice, something I have loved since a child but not had for what seems like decades, so iv decided to have a nibble and give it a review at the same time.

The packaging is a brown paper bag style and just by looking at it you know its an old fashioned product, In fact Liquorice in the form of a candy has been around since the 1600s when it was first invented in Holland, In the UK we probably think of Pontefract as being the Liquorice producing capital, Pontefract's deep sandy soil makes it one of the few British places in which liquorice can be successfully grown. It still has a number of liquroice manufactures there today.

On opening the pack the dark burgundy liquorice sticks fall out, they glisten in the light, almost as if they have been polished before being packaged and im wondering if this is not a wax spray finish that has been added in the final stages of manufacture?

I decide to have a smell and am disappointed with the aroma, there is a small whiff of strawberry scent but not what i was expecting, but with this being a liquorice product and being a natural flavour it does not concern me in the slightest, I pop a stick in my mouth and chomp away.

The liquorice is chewy and sticks to your teeth, there is a distinct wax coating as i thought but this is probably added to stop the pieces sticking together, the strawberry flavour is there but not in your face, Its mild and tastes natural, there is no hint of aniseed at all but this is strawberry liquorice.

Summing up.

I like the packaging its old fashioned, the strawberry flavour tastes natural, I didn't like the wax coating, you can taste it and it leaves a coating on the roof of your mouth, would i buy again? I'm afraid the answer is no see what you think!

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer

All comments in this blog are of my own opinion