date:May 30, 2012
Steviol glycosides, the compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the stevia leaf that are used to sweeten products, are extracted using ethanol in the form of Rebiana A. As a result, some individual EU Member States are arguing that they cannot be labelled as natural, because they do not exist in a natural state without this extraction process.
The definition revolves around marketing guidelines for separate EU countries. Thats because there is no legislation imposing a strict definition