On the Street -- Sunwin Converts Chinese Facility for High-grade Stevia
September 24/Law & Health Weekly -- Sunwin International Neutraceuticals Inc. completed the conversion of Qufu Shengren's production facilities to produce high-grade stevia. The newly converted facilities add 250 metric tons of production capacity for high-grade stevia extract up to rebaudioside A 98, bringing Sunwin's total high-grade stevia annual production capacity to 500 metric tons.
Qufu Shengren, founded in December 2003, manufactured and distributed pharmaceutical products throughout China. In March 2007, Qufu Shengren received a certificate of good manufacturing practices (GMP) from State Food and Drug Administration in China for its pharmaceutical products. In April 2009, Sunwin International acquired 100% interest of Qufu Shengren and began the conversion of the facilities to produce high-grade stevia extracts. The completion of this conversion comes at a time when Sunwin is poised to enter its stevia extracts for use as a sweetener in the U.S. food and beverage industry with the completion of the process for U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") self-affirmed GRAS status for stevia extracts produced by Sunwin.