RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CALIF. — Blue California by March of 2011 plans to use a natural fermentation process to commercially produce its Good&Sweet Reb-A 99%, a zero-calorie natural high-intensity sweetener.

“Production by fermentation is the next milestone in the industry and offers enormous benefits for the food and beverage industries since it would practically eliminate concerns about availability, something large companies with global reach have,” Blue California said. “The process would also ensure the highest purity and most competitive price for a product that has the potential to revolutionize the food industry.”
Blue California, Rancho Santa Margarita, started commercial production of the natural sweetener derived from the stevia plant in December of 2007.

“From the very beginning of our work with purified stevia compounds, our ultimate goal was to produce these ingredients through a natural fermentation process in order to control purity and availability,” said Steve Chen, the company’s president and director of R.&D. and Innovation.