Stevia is a plant native to South America whose leaf extracts are naturally sweet and are used to sweeten food & beverages. Commercially, stevia is a white powder composed of one or more intensely sweet glycosides derived from the leaves of stevia and finds use as a non-caloric sweetener. Stevia has its own unique taste profile and sweetness intensity which is approximately 200 to 350 times greater than regular sugar. Many food & beverage companies use stevia to create products with enhanced taste and fewer total calories.