Paul M. Cook wrote:
>
> Not bad this stuff. I finally saw some Zevia soda and grabbed a 6 pack.
> It's expensive at 5 bucks a six pack but I was pretty impressed. I tried
> the ginger root beer. It was rich and had a lot of flavor and no aftertaste
> which was a surprise.

So far I have only found it at specialty stores.

> Way too many bad things said about aspartame and even
> Splenda for me to ever use them ever again. This stevia really has a very
> cane sugar like flavor with perhaps a hint of honey.

To me the issue is relative risk. I know how toxic sugar is. All I
need to do is look down at my spare tire to see that. I know diabetics
so I know there are people who get worse problems from it than me. I
use a lot less artificial sweetener than actual sweetener so the
relative dosage of the artificial ones is a lot smaller. They can be
toxic enough that it takes several gallons to kill me before they are
worse than the sugar itself.

All artificial sweeteners eventually develop a bad reputation. Some
more than others. In spite of the ban on cyclamates it has fewer
problems than saccharine. Aspartame seems to draw the most complaints
but that's probably my bias in actually knowing two people who get
symptoms from it, very rare. Splenda is too new but the issues are
bound to happen.

Stevia is a plant so it's easy to figure it isn't artificial and thus is
will not follow the same trajectory as the synthetic artifical
sweeteners. Don't be so sure. Hemlock is a plant and it wasn't good
for Socrates. Sassafrass was used in root beer for decades before it
was banned as a cancer risk. The list of problem herbs is a lot longer
than the ones actively used as poisons.

That said - I prefer the sodas that use Splenda. Diet Rite series,
Hansens diet sodas. For a while 7-Up used splenda then they changed
back, sigh.