Coke's new drink may be unveiled without FDA approval

I LOVE stevia; it is a natural and calorie-free herb. Most brands taste great. I would be overjoyed if they made coke with stevia, although it would probably still have some other poisonous chemicals in it.

Probably it will take years to get this approved though.

The FDA will say that melamine, BPA, aspartame and countless other products are "safe" in whatever amount they make up that day, and yet a tried and true herb is suddenly public enemy #1 according to the FDA. It's quite ridiculous. In my opinion, it's more safe if the FDA has not approved it.

nothing like the Real Thing

This would be huge for those of us who have food allergies or diabeties and cannot have sugar. Stevia is one of the only sweeteners I can have. I cook with it all the time.

I really hope this happens.

Jones Soda is the only natural soft drink using cane sugar these days. KO and PEP use corn sryup. Stevia is derived from a natural plant, just like cane sugar. What's the problem?

I don't know what the big deal is, the FDA sells it's blessings to the highest bidders already good or bad, how many of you smoke pot or do crack or coke?
The FDA doesn't bless a lot of things you do and in fact holds up real drugs from the market on worthless science. We're all going to die from something someday and most of you drink solvents already in the form of alcohol in cough syrups to martini's and beer.
There once was cocaine in coke products for many years until it became a controled substance. Pot was legal till it became a controled substance as well. It's not in the best interest of Cocacola to kill the people who buy their products already, that would be an oxymoron.
Companies that are in business to make a quick buck then go away use these practices, but Cocacola, I am sure isn't in this market for a fast buck then file bankrupcy to avoid the lawsuits.

I've been using liquid stevia, instead of sugar, aspartame, Splenda, etc., for 23 years and have friends that have been using it for 27...and NONE of us have had any side effects. My children were raised using it. We are all healthy. Our blood sugars are normal and we don't get the high-lows of sugar, or the toxic residue in our bodies from artificial sweetners. Stevia has been used for centuries in other countries. It's a food-grade plant that is naturally sweet and it can be used cold or hot without harm. It can be safely used by diabetics and does not create cavities. The FDA is in bed with the sugar and artifical sweetner companies (aka: $$$), thus they play games with anything that may actually be naturally positive for our bodies, as they often do..and why the refuse to 'allow' it to be labeled a sweetner, which is crazy! Stevia is wonderful..do the research..it is safe..even safer than Splenda (which is chemically altered and also contributing to the deep pockets of the FDA). But as a side note..the 'other' ingredients in Coke, Pepsi, etc., have ZERO health advantages and create an acidic environment in the body.

Do you know what I think ? all these drugs and stuff the FDA say are safe for us to eat and take and later down the road we find out they are not .and a big law suit comes up against the company that made it .lets not just hold them accountable ,lets hold the government too.They approved it. Then maybe they will pull their heads out of their Butts and start doing their jobs .Instead of us paying them to do nothing but take money from those who have the most gets a free ride on their products.

It's about time, Stevia has been out there for a long time...you don't think it's healthier than the poison they have been using , it's an HERB, I have been using Stevia forever, wake up people, take responsibility for your own health...the FDA hasn't approved yet, let me see...because it doesn't interfere with insulin, OH Ok, or doesn't fatten you, so that can approve another pill for diabetes or weight loss

Stevia is a natural South American herb that has been used as a sweetener by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay for hundreds of years.

Japanese manufacturers have been using stevia since the early 1970s to sweeten pickles and other foods. You can buy Stevia in health food stores and nutrition centers in grocery stores or grow your own Stevia herb from herb and plant seed catalogs. The FDA has little control over supplements. The herb has been consumed without apparent harm in different parts of the world for many years. No reports of any adverse reactions have surfaced after 30 years of use in Japan.

the ignorance of some people..fda deems unsafe only because it (stevia) is a threat to corporate sellers of nutrasweet and all the other cancer causing sweeteners. Stevia has been around a long time. Those studies refered to are junk science. Go research nutrasweet's studies; sugar itself is bad for you. I applaud Coke for doing this..not that I am a fan, dont drink the stuff anymore