The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the use of a natural sweetener called stevia as a food additive, which has led major soft drink manufacturers to announce their plans to include it in drinks.

Earlier this week, Coca-Cola said that it would be marketing a new product called Sprite Green using its version of stevia, called Truvia. And Pepsi is planning to release new flavors of SoBe Lifewater and an orange drink called Trop50 with its sweetener, PureVia.

Stevia, which comes from a Paraguayan shrub, may be a way for the soft drink companies to reach customers who prefer to consume natural ingredients rather than artificial sweeteners.

The natural sweetener is estimated to be about 300 times sweeter than sugar, but has no calories. It is already on sale in the U.S. as a nutritional supplement and can be found in a variety of products.

Previously, the FDA had strictly regulated how stevia can be sold – permitting it to be marketed as an herbal supplement but not as a sweetener.

In fact, some companies such as Celestial Seasonings had found themselves butting heads with the FDA over their use of stevia in their products, even though they had labeled it as an herbal supplement.

These actions made some natural health experts question why the use of stevia was limited, while artificial sweeteners such as aspartame were approved.