Stevia is a sugar substitute. Made from South and Central American herbs and shrubs, whose leaves have up to 45 times more sweetness than table sugar, stevia has been used for centuries to sweeten yerba mate.

Since the 1970s, the Japanese have been the largest consumers of stevia in the world, and it can also be found throughout Asia, South America and Israel.

Because of health and safety concerns, the U.S. banned stevia in the early 1990s but It was approved as a food additive by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the end of 2008. It is currently banned in the E.U., Singapore and Hong Kong pending more research.