Stevia is a generic name and covers a broader area from the plant to the extract.

In general, purified Stevia leaf extract contains 95% or greater purity of SGs, as mentioned in the safety review by the JEFCA in 2008, which is supported by several regulatory agencies including the FDA and European Commission. JEFCA (2010) approved nine SGs including stevioside, rebaudiosides (A, B, C, D, and F), steviolbioside, rubososide, and dulcoside A.

On the other hand, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced a letter E designated for SG as E960 in 2010. E960 is currently used for specification of the food additive in the EU and any preparation that contains SGs with not less than 95% a purity of 10 (one additional SG above is Reb E) on the dried basis. Regulations further define the use of stevioside and/or rebaudioside preparation(s) as much as at the 75% level or more.

In China, Stevia extract is regulated under the standards of GB2760-2014 steviol glycoside, it mentioned that many product can use stevia upto the dosage of 10g/kg for tea product, and the dosage for Flavored fermented milk of 0.2g/kg, it also can be used in below products: Preserved fruit, Bakery/ fried nuts and seeds, Candy, Jelly, seasoning etc,

Several regulatory agencies including the Scientific Committee for Food Additives between 1984 and 1999, JEFCA in 2000–10, and EFSA (2010–15) designated SGs as a sweetener compound, and the last two agencies reported a recommendation for the use of SGs as 4 mg/kg body as a daily intake per person in a day. Rebaudioside M with at least 95% purity was also approved in 2014 by the FDA (Prakash and Chaturvedula, 2016). Despite the long history of S. rebaudiana in Japan and Paraguay, many countries have accepted Stevia as a food additive after taking into account different considerations of the health issues (Table 4.2).