On August 2, 2017, Health Canada approved a new end use for stevia as a sweetening agent in two popular food products: meal replacement/ nutritional supplement (i.e. protein) bars, and snack (i.e granola, cereal and fibre) bars. This is a major development for the food industry, as snack, cereal and nutrition bars continue to be amongst the best-selling product categories in the Canadian marketplace.
Health Canada has established limits to the amount of stevia that can be added to these food categories, as outlined in their official List of Permitted Sweeteners:
- In meal replacement/nutritional supplement bars, to a maximum level of use of 0.02% (calculated as steviol equivalents), and
- In snack bars, to a maximum level of use of 0.04% (calculated as steviol equivalents).
Source is proud to have played a key role in this major regulatory development, having submitted the regulatory petition to Health Canada on behalf of one of our clients.
If you are interested in developing a new snack or meal replacement bar containing stevia, or are looking to replace an existing sweetening agent with stevia in an existing meal replacement or snack bar, connect with Source’s Regulatory team today!
