RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. — SweeGen Inc., a provider of nature-based sweeteners announced today that its new product, known as BESTEVIA™ Reb-D, has been confirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) by an independent expert panel based on the FDA's GRAS Self-Affirmation requirements established in 1997.
In addition, the company also confirmed that the GRAS dossier for BESTEVIA™ Reb-D has been submitted voluntarily to the FDA for review. Based on current FDA guidelines it is estimated that SweeGen may receive the FDA's Letter of No Objection by December, 2017 or early 2018. With the GRAS self-affirmation process completed, SweeGen's BESTEVIA™ Reb-D can now be used as a sweetener in a variety of food products in the US.
Steven Chen, the company's CEO commented, "Now that the GRAS self-affirmation for Reb-D has been completed, we can provide our business partners with another outstanding non-caloric sweetener and US consumers with great tasting alternatives to sugar and artificial sweeteners". Rebaudioside D ("Reb-D") is one of several steviol glycosides found in the stevia leaf that can be used as a non-caloric sweetener for food and beverage applications.
SweeGen entered the sweetener market earlier this year after commercializing its BESTEVIA™ Reb-M, a stevia sweetener with a sugar-like flavor profile that can also be used in a variety of food products. BESTEVIA™ Reb-M received the FDA's GRAS confirmation in February, 2017. Ingredion is SweeGen's distribution partner for both Reb-M and Reb-D, excluding the Republic of China and SweeGen's House Accounts. This collaboration enables both companies to benefit from each other's strengths and to attract a diverse mix of Food and Beverage companies world-wide.
ABOUT SWEEGEN
SweeGen (OTC: SWEE) is dedicated to the development, production and distribution of non-caloric sweeteners for the food, flavor and beverage industries. SweeGen's robust product pipeline, intellectual property portfolio, and dedicated manufacturing capacity and R&D provide the Company its foundation for innovation and delivery of high-quality sweeteners. For more information please contact info@sweegen.com and visit SweeGen's website, www.sweegen.com.
ABOUT INGREDION
Ingredion Incorporated is a leading global ingredient solutions provider. We turn grains, fruits, vegetables and other plant materials into value-added ingredients and biomaterial solutions for the food, beverage, paper and corrugating, brewing and other industries. Serving customers in over 100 countries, our ingredients make crackers crunchy, yogurts creamy, candy sweet, paper stronger and add fiber to nutrition bars. For more information please contact Janelle.lirtel@ingredion.com or visit Ingredion's website, www.ingredion.us.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements regarding the future outlook and performance of SweeGen, Inc., and other statements based on current management expectations, estimates and projections. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, are not guarantees and are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those that may be discussed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are only made as of the date of this release, and SweeGen, Inc. disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Source: SweeGen, Inc.