Bonus Content

Season 4, Episode 05

Splenda Stevia Farms: A New American Industry

How Do They Get The Sweet Stuff Out?

Splenda’s new stevia farm in central Florida is the first of its kind in the U.S. Thousands of plants produce millions of leaves that are then turned into plant-based stevia sweetener products. But how do they get the sweet stuff out?

Science! Wait… come back! It’s not scary science, it’s actually fun. The process is much the same way sugar is produced from sugarcane — it’s mashed and boiled and the syrup becomes sugar or other products.

Same kind of thing with stevia, as Chip Carter demonstrates here.