High Quality, Certified Snap-N-Shoot® Standards of Reb A and Stevia Impurities Ensure Accuracy and Consistency in Quantitative Applications
Authors: Mitzi Rettinger, Uma Sreenivassan, Isil Dilek
Presented at Stevia World Americas 2010, Atlanta, GA, February 2010
Introduction
FDA’s “no objection letters” in December 2008, opened the door to food and beverage companies to use Reb A (rebaudioside A) in food products as long as the purity is no less than 95%. Laboratories are now challenged with quantifying the percent of Reb A in the plant based material. For food and beverage manufacturers, it is not enough to receive a vendor’s certificate of analysis, it’s important to verify the quality and purity of the product. Reb A, a component of the Stevia leaf, has naturally occurring impurities that are variable depending on environmental conditions of farming, process of cultivation, harvest, and isolation/blending. Accuracy of this quantification depends on robustness of the analysis and quality of the reference. To accurately quantify the % Reb A (Assay) the lab must start with accurate reference standards.