Stevia is a member of the daisy family, and Coca Cola teamed with Cargill to bring it onboard as a new sweetener in their family of products.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, Coca-Cola has filed 24 patent applications for the product, which has been tentatively named Rebiana. It plans to use the sweetener in some of its beverages. Stevia is only approved in the United States as a dietary supplement, not as a food additive. The extract is claimed to be the world's only all-natural sweetener with zero calories, zero carbohydrates and a zero glycemic index.

Extracts are said to have up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar. As a sweetener, Stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar. Lower-calorie sodas are made with artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. A recent report revealed that the US sweetener market is poised to increase 4% annually, to reach over $1 billion in 2010. A company that could offer a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners may have found a new sweet spot in this growing market.

In the $20 billion diabetes market, when drugs make their way onto the scene, it's a head-turning event. So far, one drug is gaining ground and two of them are raising interest.

Januvia, manufactured by Merck, was recently approved for the treatment of diabetes. Januvia is used with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. Januvia lowers blood sugar when blood sugar is high, especially after a meal. It also lowers blood sugar between meals and helps to improve the levels of insulin produced by your own body after a meal. The drug is unlikely to cause your blood sugar to be lowered to a dangerous level because it does not work when your blood sugar is low. Januvia faces potential competition from an experimental drug, Galvus. The drugs are similar in many respects, including their status as once-a-day pills, and their ability to lower blood-sugar levels in diabetics while helping them to lose weight, or at least to avoid gaining it. The FDA delayed its decision on Galvus, so we may be waiting till the first half of 2007 to see it in action.

Acomplia, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, is in hot pursuit of FDA approval. Acomplia is primarily a treatment for diabetics, but the drug is unusually multi-faceted. It was created to help people quit smoking and lose fat by blocking circuitry in the brain that gives the body cravings. The drug works by blocking the same circuitry in the brain that gives pot-smokers the munchies. The drug is expected to receive FDA approval in the first half of 2007.