Green tea often with high pollution

Stiftung Warentest: Only five green teas received a good rating
Green tea has always been considered very healthy. The infusion is said to have many health benefits. About a year ago, Stiftung Warentest discovered that many black tea varieties are heavily contaminated with substances that damage our health.

Now the foundation tested green tea, unfortunately with similarly poor results. We tested 25 different products. Whether loose, in bags or in capsules, every tea has been extensively tested for harmful substances. The result was surprising: pollutants were found in each of the samples. The products tested also differed greatly in price. The price range varied from 87 cents to 83 euros per 100 grams.

Some of the green teas were so heavily burdened that they could permanently endanger their health, warns the Stiftung Warentest. Seven products were so heavily loaded that they were rated "poor". Seven other green teas achieved in the test only the rating "sufficient". Only five of the undesirable substances contained so little that they were rated "good." Overall, the pollutant load of green tea is therefore quite critical.

Many green tea varieties are contaminated with pollutants. (Image: NataliTerr / fotolia.com)

With regular consumption, a health risk can not be ruled out
One year ago, the Foundation found harmful substances in every black tea tested, in small to high quantities. Now, the current green tea test gave comparably poor results. With higher, regular consumption of some goods, a health risk can not be ruled out, warns the foundation. However, the test also showed that it is possible to avoid high pollutant levels in tea. Five products performed well. Among them were three teas in sachets, a capsule tea and a matcha (to the finest powder ground green tea - Matcha is considered a particularly noble tea and is correspondingly expensive). The best loose teas achieved only the grade "satisfactory".

Carcinogenic substances in tea
In nine of the 25 tees tested, the investigators found potentially carcinogenic substances: pyrrolizidine alkaloids and anthraquinone. According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), pyrrolizidine alkaloids can be completely transformed into tea-pour, said Stiftung Warentest.

Animal experiments have shown that pyrrolizidine alkaloids can be carcinogenic in some cases, said Armin Valet from the Hamburg consumer center to the news agency "dpa". Anthraquinone is about one third of the infusion, as determined in samples at Schwarztees. However, laboratory tests have shown that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or mineral oil constituents are virtually non-enterprising.

It's different with Matcha tea. Here green tea powder is stirred and not brewed. Although PAH and mineral oil components are poorly soluble in water, they are mixed with Matcha and completely drunk. That's why they were rated more stringently in the test than the other green teas. Nevertheless, one of them is one of the best teas in the test.

Pollutants enter the tea via weeds
According to the Stiftung Warentest, the pollutants are likely to get into the tea via weeds, which are picked. Particularly at risk are pregnant women, nursing mothers and children. Under no circumstances should they regularly consume larger quantities of green tea containing a high content of pyrrolizidine alkaloids over an extended period of time. The seven products rated as "deficient" should therefore be urgently avoided. Among them is the "Chinese Special Gunpowder G 601" tea, which cut off as one of the worst teas in the pollutant test. Here, testers found too high levels of a plant protection product.

The tea should not have been sold because the legal maximum was exceeded. According to Stiftung Warentest, six other tested products were so heavily loaded that they only received the rating "unsatisfactory": Aldi Süd / Westcliff Grüner Tee; Kaufland / K-Classic Green Tea; Penny / Mayfair Green Tea Nature; Norma / Cornwall Green Tea Nature; Messmer Finest Green Tea and Netto Marken-Discount / Captains Tea Green tea according to Asian tradition

Good green tea can be healthy
If green tea does not contain too much pollutants or harmful residues, it can be a healthy drink. Tea contains substances such as polyphenols, flavonoids, catechins, tannins and fluoride. These are attributed positive health effects, Armin Valet told the dpa. In addition, earlier studies had already demonstrated its effectiveness as a healthy radical scavenger and suggested that green tea had a positive effect on the brain. (As)