Pricking the BUBBLE of Bubble Tea

 

Bubble tea shops are popping up in all Asian communities round the world like wildfire in recent years. Teens like to gather at these small parlours to relish their favorite choices, awaiting the sweet excitement to titillate their taste buds.

Bubble tea (pearl milk tea or boba tea), originated from Taiwan is presented in a cup with concoction of gelatinous pearls of tapioca, brewed black or green tea, milk, sugar, flavouring and ice.

 

This is not a healthy drink as what most people thought.

 

Why?

 

Milk?

Milk is usually substituted by milk essence as many East Asians are lactose intolerant and it is cheaper and easier to store and use than perishable milk. However, note that ten cups of fresh milk is of no match to the fragrant taste of a teaspoon of milk essence.

Milk essence is essentially hygrogenated vegetable oil – a type of transfat. Experts believed that a glass of 500ml of bubble tea daily far exceeds the allowable limit of transfat for any person (2 gms a day) known to be the leading factor of heart and blood vessel diseases. Also found is a chemical addictive that contains trace of arsenic, lead, copper and many harmful minerals. Prolonged periods of consumption can lead to cancer, asthma and other health complications.

 

Black pearl bubbles?

Traditionally, the bubbles were made from casava (tapioca) powder which contains linamarin, a chemical that can convert into the deadly chemical toxin, cyanide if not properly handled. (commercialized processing involving peeling of skin and high-heat drying should contain little to no linamarin). Tapioca that has not undergone the correct processing can induce cyanide poisoning, which can make you feel dizzy, confused, agitated and cause an aching head and in more serious cases coma, convulsions, leg paralysis, and decreased vision and hearing acuity. In addition, chronic exposure to small doses of cyanide poisoning can cause the thyroid gland to expand, hormonal imbalance and damage the nerves that control body’s coordination and balance. Expect more damage if your regular diet contains little to no protein, as you need proper amino acids to detoxify the poison.

 

Nice flavoring?

If you recalled in May 2011, a food scandal broke out in Taiwan where DEHP (a chemical plasticizer and potential carcinogen used to make plastic) was found as a stabilizer in drinks and juice syrups. Some of these products may have been exported and used in bubble tea shops around the world.

In June 2011, the Health Minister of Malaysia followed with a ban on companies selling “Strawberry Syrup,” a material used in some bubble teas, after chemical tests showed they were tainted with DEHP.

 

Chewiness?

The rubbery texture comes about when millet protein is added. In some instances, artificial plastic powder is used to enhance the chewiness further. As this toxic material cannot be digested and absorbed into the body, it wrecks havoc to our health.

 

Calories?

The analysis revealed that one 500cc glass of “bubble tea” with normal sugar and ice has 250-550 calories, which means that drinking one glass a day can result in weight gain of at least one kilogram over 14 days, if the consumer does not expend the extra calories.

Prolonged consumption of saturated fats, transfat, artificial flavors, additives, high carbohydrates and plastic would definitely weaken the immune system. There is little or no nutritional value to talk about here. Hence, for health reasons, avoid this tasty and dangerous food at all cost!

 

Latest news (May 2013)

Since mid-May, Taiwanese health authorities have confiscated more than 312 tons of food starch – a key ingredient in bubble tea – that was found to have been tainted with maleic acid, a cheap food additive that can cause kidney failure when consumed in large doses.

The toxic starch has also poisoned Taiwan’s food exports. On Wednesday, Malaysia announced an immediate ban on 11 food items imported from Taiwan. Singapore imposed similar ban over the weekend.


This is the second island-wide food scare in two years after the discovery of the pervasive use of plasticizer – a chemical additive to use to make food more pliable in May 2011.