The following artificial sweeteners are used in reduced-calorie, non-alcoholic beverages made with a base of fruit juice and can be found in the guidelines for sweeteners (VO 1333/2008 EG):
Steviol glycosides are highly sweet, diterpenic glycoside compounds from the South American plant Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. They can be over 100 - 300 times sweeter than sucrose. As a natural sweetener, they are approved in Europe under E 960. According to the EFSA, stevia extracts must contain at least 95% of the following 11 steviol glycosides, in any combination and ratio: stevioside, rebaudioside A, B, C, D, E, F and M, steviolbioside, rubusoside and dulcoside A. Steviol glycosides are considered acaloric, as their calorific value of approx. 2.7 kcal/g is negligible due to the small quantities used.
Determination of the content of steviol glycosides and stevia products in beverages.
All mixed beer drinks and beverages in general.
The decarbonated and diluted sample is chromatographically separated on a polar-endcapped amino-HILIC phase and detected using a mass spectrometer with ESI source. The quantitative evaluation is carried out by external calibration.