Stevia is a commonly used sweetener that is derived from a shrub native to South America. This is the first time that the FDA has not objected to the use of this shrub in the form of food additives. In the past stevia has only been used as a dietary supplement.

The FDA first declared that it had no objections against the use of stivia as food additives with the launch of the two table top sweeteners by the name of Truvia and PureVia.

Truvia is a table top sweetener produced by the Coca Cola Company and Cargill. Recently Coca Cola has reintroduced their famous Sprite drink sweetened by Truvia and being marketed as Sprite Green. This is a reduced calorie soft drink that has been launched in only two U.S cities at the moment. It is set to be launched on a grander scale at the beginning of the year 2009. Coca Cola has also announced that it will be producing a number of other low calorie and zero calorie drinks making use of stivia in the future.

PepsiCo on the other hand has produced PureVia along with the Whole Earth Sweetener Company. The company is set to release its first range of drinks making use of PureVia by the name of SoBe lifewater. These drinks are available in three flavors; blackberry and blue berry, Fuji Apple Pear and Yumberry Pomegranate. PepsiCo is also planning to release a new orange juice known as Trop50.  No specific date for the launch of the SoBe drinks has been declared by the company. Trop50 on the other hand is set to be launched in March 2009.

There have been growing concerns regarding the use of stevia in the production of diet sodas and juice drinks. The lack of clinical research has put the FDA under fire by certain health experts who claim that it was a premature decision by the FDA to approve of the use of stevia as an additive in sodas and juices.

Serevent and Foradil have long been used for the treatment of Asthma but the FDA has been advised to place a ban on the use of these drugs. This is because they have greater long term negative effects than the benefits they have to offer.

On the other hand Advair and Symbicort have been spared because the medical experts have adequate proof that they do not pose severe health risks and have ample amount of benefits to offer to asthma patients.

All four asthma medications contain a special ingredient that works as a long acting bronchodilator. This substance relaxes the muscles around the airways that get stressed during an asthma attack. The problem is that the same substance can trigger severe asthma attacks that can actually be life threatening.

The two medications that have been spared by the concerned authorities make use of another ingredient in combination with the long acting bronchodilator that neutralizes its negative effects. The medicines that have been banned however did not contain that second ingredient which posed health risks to the patients.

The major problem with Serevent and Foradil is that they may cause the patients to overdose on the medication thereby increasing the chances of developing harmful side effects. Dr. John Jenkins who happens to be the director of the FDA said that rather than benefiting the patients Servevent and Foradil may actually worsen the condition.

The in house drug safety experts of the FDA have proposed that the use of all four medications be restricted because they believe all of them pose a serious health threat to asthma patients.

With the FDA’s experts unable to come to a conclusion a large panel of outside advisors was called in so as to come to a conclusion regarding the medicines. The end result was the restriction of Foradil and Serevent and a green signal to Advair and Symbicort.