FSANZ conducted risk assessment for steviol glycosides

The Food Standards Code permits the addition of steviol glycosides as a food additive to specific foods. Steviol glycosides can be created in one of three methods in Australia and New Zealand:

1) Direct extraction from stevia plant leaves, followed by concentration and purification.
2) Stevia leaf extract is transformed into several steviol glycosides using enzymes. The enzymes utilized in this procedure come from microorganisms that have undergone genetic modification.
3) Employing genetically modified yeast to ferment sugar (rather than stevia plant) to create steviol glycosides.

Steviol glycosides must be listed in the ingredient list as "sweetener (steviol glycosides)" or the relevant food additive class name followed by the code number or name in brackets when added to food.