Stevia is a natural sweetener native to Brazil and Paraguay where it has been used since ancient times by the Guaraní peoples of South America, who called it ka'a he'ê, or ‘sweet herb’. It is also known as candy leaf, sweet leaf or sugar leaf.

Used as a non-nutritive sweetener, stevia contains minimal calories. Its sweet taste is derived from steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside), which are 50–300 times sweeter than regular sugar. Stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar.*