Sweet Green Fields Granted International Patents

BELLINGHAM, Wash.Sweet Green Fields (SGF) announced patents have been granted in Australia and New Zealand for the company's Rebaudioside-A (RA) product of 99% purityAltesse Stevia 99which can be used for challenging beverage formulations. The Australia and New Zealand product patents provide Sweet Green Fields with the ability to exclusively market and sell its Altesse Stevia 99 brand sweetener and other high-purity products in development.

Sweet Green Fields also was granted process patents in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and China for the company's RA extraction method. The proprietary extraction methodknown as Fast Precipitation Process (FPP)already holds a patent in the United States and is 33% to 50% faster than the industry's conventional methods, resulting in a much more efficient and cost effective process. The claims in the U.S., China, Australia, Mexico and New Zealand process patents extend to cover Sweet Green Field's proprietary purity selection method that chooses the exact RA purity of the final product before production begins.