Reb C Sweetness Enhancer Revealed

EWING, N.J.Redpoint Bio Corporation disclosed that its all-natural sweetness enhancer, RP44, is Reb-C (rebaudioside C), a component of the stevia plant that imparts no sweet taste of its own when used in a product. Sweetness enhancers act by amplifying the existing sweet taste of caloric sweeteners such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

Redpoint had filed patent applications covering the sweetness enhancing effect of RP44. Redpoint first announced that it had identified RP44, an all-natural sweetness enhancer, in June 2009. Since that time Redpoint has scaled production of RP44, allowing more complete characterization of RP44s properties in model food and beverage applications. The company believes RP44 has excellent potential for achieving GRAS status, due to its long history of human exposure as a component of stevia and its similarity to Reb A, which has already undergone extensive safety studies. The GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) determination/notification process requires extensive testing to ensure safety in use and usually takes 12 to 8 months to complete.