Steven Chen and Sweegen, a full-service product developer forging the future of wellness in food and drink with new technologies and innovations, are pleased to announce that the company’s Signature Stevia will expand into Mexico for the first time. This comes after the country’s safety authority recently adopted the Codex Alimentarius specifications, otherwise known as Codex. Those specifications regulate steviol glycosides that are produced by a wide range of different technologies, which has allowed Sweegen to make its entire Bestevia® portfolio available in Mexico and more regions in the future.
“Mexico’s adoption of Codex is most certainly a step in the right direction,” said entrepreneur Steven Chen. He continued: “Worldwide, there is a major need to tackle issues like obesity and diabetes in both adults and kids, a problem that has stemmed from products that are high in sugar. We believe that this move is another important step towards accomplishing precisely that.”
The adoption of the aforementioned Codex framework provides a much more straightforward approach for both reviewing and approving products. Prior to this, two of Sweegen’s products – Rebaudiosides M and D – were approved in Mexico, using the standard regulatory process. But thanks to the fact that greater sugar-reduction tools are now available to brands everywhere, this can spawn far greater innovation – not to mention more effective product launches that can reach a wider array of people.
With this announcement comes the launch of Sweegen’s LATAM Innovation Studio, which is situated in Mexico City. It will help serve the entire region for years to come.
Steven Chen and his colleagues believe that the Codex framework will set an excellent regulatory example for all food and beverage brands when it comes to using better-for-you ingredients to create health and wellness food and beverage products. But beyond that, he believes that this is only the beginning of a much larger movement.
“It’s a given that more companies are going to follow suit with this movement,” said Steven Chen. “Once they do, the global footprint of Sweegen will expand quickly – a move that will allow us to provide more of our strategic partners with better materials to reduce sugar in their own products, especially in situations when they’re under intense government pressure.”
Steven Chen said that Sweegen’s mission is to help brands create as many healthy food and beverages options as possible – which in and of itself is the most important benefit of all.
It’s also important to note that Mexico currently has a beverage sugar tax that was put into place largely to discourage people from purchasing unhealthy drinks like sodas. Since its implementation, it has directly contributed to a decline in sales to the tune of 7.6%. Therefore, even more manufacturers should be embracing healthier and sugar-free alternatives – which is another one of the reasons why Sweegen’s Signature Stevia’s expansion into Mexico couldn’t come along at a better time.
To find out more information about Sweegen’s SIgnature Stevia’s expansion into Mexico, or to learn more about Sweegen in general, please feel free to visit the organization’s official website here.