“...FDA only approves the use of extract and not pure stevia use in foods.”
You can grow stevia in your garden. Extract requires a process. Like a factory. Follow the money....................
Here in North Carolina it is being planted large scale by tobacco farmers as the planting and harvesting equipment is similar.
Real good article: Stevia Production in North Carolina
Prepared by David Shew, Department of Plant Pathology, NCSU
https://cefs.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Stevia-FAQ.pdf?x68591
also: Stevia Production in NC
— Written By Molly Hamilton
https://organiccommodities.ces.ncsu.edu/2013/03/stevia-production-in-nc/
I have about a hundred plants and I’m experimenting with it.
Right now I harvest it early in the morning and place it in my commercial freeze dryer. After about 24 hrs it crumbles to the touch. I haven’t bothered to powder it. I just put it in a gallon zip lock bag and crush it.
Nice thing about it, you cut it back to about 4to 6 inches to harvest it and you can get several cuttings per year.
It’s perennial here in NC, so last years plants came up early and strong. But very thick plants so I am separating them.