The EU's 27 member states have backed the safety of the natural, intense sweetener, steviol glycoside, at a European Commission (EC) committee meeting.

Member state experts at Monday's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) meeting backed the EC proposal to authorise steviol glycoside at, after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) backed its safety in early 2010, reported foodnavigator.com

The move was welcomed by the International Stevia Council, whose president, Carl Horn said the move, "brings this calorie-free naturally sourced sweetness one step closer to all consumers in Europe, not just those in France where steviol glycosides were approved for use in food nearly two years ago."

EC spokesperson Frederic Vincent said stevia-fortified products could be on European shelves by, "early 2012" as long as there were no objections from the European Council and the European Parliament in the three-month scrutiny period the proposal now entered.