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Miraculin (wikipedia.org)
13 points by teraku on May 6, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 5 comments



> Since 2011, the FDA has imposed a ban on importing Synsepalum dulcificum (specifying 'miraculin') from its origin in Taiwan, declaring it as an "illegal undeclared sweetener"

So if you declare it, can you import it?

What if you get your hands on some seeds, and instead of eating or selling them (which would put you under the FDA's jurisdiction), you grow them for several generations in a greenhouse? Are the great-grandchildren plants of smuggled seeds still illegal?

What if they're descendants of a plant that someone brought to the US before 2011? How would the FDA prove they aren't?


That summary is wrong. If you click on the source, you'll see that the FDA has a ban on importing a particular packaged product from Taiwan that isn't labeled properly.


This part just before's even crazier: The use of miraculin as a food additive was denied in 1974 by the [FDA].

It's been banned for 50 years for no legitimate reason.


I tried this during university. I hosted a party with a bunch of fruits and vegetables. It was a really fun time, it really does work.

I remember being surprised that many people said they didn’t want to try miraculin because they like food the way it tasted already.


Somebody watched the latest Shark Tank, I see!

They are trying to sell this for weight loss. As in, chew these and then eat something unsweet and feel like you had sweets. It seems too niche to succeed as a business.




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