Tea is one of the most popular drinks in Germany.
A test now shows: Even the consumption of organic tea is not always safe.
Munich - Around 128 million cups of tea are drunk every day in Germany; in 2019, 68 liters of the hot beverage were consumed per capita.
Compared to coffee (per capita consumption of around 164 liters) this is a comparatively small amount, but the quality is also important here.
The result of a study of various herbal tea brands by the
Öko-Test
magazine is all the more surprising
.
Organic tea: Toxins cloud the test result at Öko-Test
Fifty non-flavored herbal tea blends (loose goods and ready-made tea bags) from organic and conventional cultivation were examined - numerous types of plant toxins and even residues of a spray that has now been banned were revealed. Particularly frightening: the “bad” teas also include some organic products.
31 organic teas were evaluated for the test, 21 products were named test winners.
There was nothing to complain about with “GlücksTee Bio” (Sonnentor) and “Organics Sleep & Dream” (teapot), but traces of pesticides or traces of the plant toxin PA (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) or tropane alkaloids were found in the other award-winning herbal teas are considered questionable.
The toxins mentioned occur naturally in weeds, such as Jacob's cabbage.
Tea in the test: "Unsatisfactory" seven times
The situation is different for the losers in the organic category: In addition to the banned insecticide chlorpyrifos, an increased level of exposure to the plant toxin PA was found in some products. Five organic teas were awarded the grade "Unsatisfactory": "Organic Sun Organic Herbs" by Norma, "Organic Herbal Tea" (Edeka), "Herbal Tea Mixture" (Gepa), "Lord Nelson Organic Organic Nine Herbs" (Lidl) as well as the "organic herbal tea Blanker Hans" from Teehandelskontor Bremen.
In the case of conventional tea varieties, five products were rated “very good”, four more were
declared “good”
by
Öko-Test
.
Here, too, traces of pesticides or low levels of plant toxins were found, which, however, did not affect the final result.
The forbidden insecticide chlorpyrifos was found
in two varieties (“9 herbs” from
Geldmännchen tea
and “herbal melody” from
Müller's tea room
) as well as too high a proportion of the plant toxin PA.
Both products were rated “unsatisfactory”.
Tea must be brewed well before consumption
For safety reasons, it is advisable to brew herbal tea with boiling water at a temperature of 100 degrees.
In this way, microorganisms and possible germs can be killed.
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