New Truvia® Baking Blend Arrives on Retail Shelves: Offering Home Bakers 75% Fewer Calories, Naturally

WAYZATA, Minn., March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Truvia® business announced today the launch of Truvia® Baking Blend, a blend of Truvia® natural sweetener and sugar with seventy-five percent fewer calories per serving than sugar.  Now in nationwide distribution, consumers can enjoy the great-taste of Truvia® natural sweetener in a product that bakes and browns like sugar.

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A 1/2 cup of Truvia® Baking Blend has 190 calories and provides the same sweetness as 1 cup of sugar with 760 calories, and offers an easy conversion from full sugar recipes.  Simply use half as much Truvia® Baking Blend when substituting for sugar to create great-tasting, reduced-calorie treats.

"The introduction of Truvia® Baking Blend offers a natural ingredient option that allows families to continue to enjoy the same sweet taste of their favorite baked goods, with the satisfaction of knowing they are consuming 75% fewer calories from sugar," said Mark Brooks, Truvia® Global Consumer Products Director.  "With this expansion of Truvia® products at retail, the Truvia® brand continues to lead innovation and growth of the stevia-based sweetener category."

The Truvia® Baking Blend package features a closeable, easy-to-pour spout; a first in the category.  A 1.5 pound bag of Truvia® Baking Blend has the equivalent sweetness of 3 pounds of sugar or approximately 7 cups – enough to make 13 pies, 9 batches of cookies or 6 batches of brownies.

"Home chefs can adapt their favorite recipes to use Truvia® Baking Blend instead of sugar for the same sweet and satisfying results," said Marisa Churchill, San Francisco-based pastry chef and author of Sweet & Skinny: 100 Recipes for Enjoying Life's Sweeter Side Without Tipping the Scales.  "Whether it is for a simple or decadent treat, Truvia® Baking Blend provides seventy-five percent fewer calories than sugar, allowing the best part of a meal – dessert – to be even more enjoyable."

Truvia® Baking Blend is available at grocery, retail and natural product stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $6.99 per bag.  Find baking recipes, such as Carrot Cake, Raspberry Oatmeal Bars and Peanut Butter Cookies, along with recipe conversion tips at truvia.com/baking.

About the Truvia® Brand

Truvia® natural sweetener is a great tasting, zero-calorie sweetener made with the best tasting part of the stevia leaf. Truvia® natural sweetener is the #2 sugar substitute in the U.S and is also available to consumers in Europe and Mexico. Truvia® stevia leaf extract is also a versatile sweetening ingredient used to enable reduced calories or sugars in foods and beverages. Truvia® LLC uniquely manages its stevia supply chain from field to table having established a global agricultural standard for stevia. For more information, visit www.truvia.com

About Cargill

Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 142,000 people in 66 countries. Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to applying its global knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business. For more information, visit Cargill.com and its news center.

SOURCE Truvia