Eco-Test Ice tea contains a lot of sugar and aromas

Ice Tea: Refreshing thirst quencher or just sugar water with artificial aromas?

(02.08.2010) The consumer magazine "Öko-Test" examined a total of 26 iced tea varieties. The majority of the products tested failed due to the unhealthy high sugar content and the added flavors. You can also make iced tea very easy and healthy yourself.

As a mixture of tea, juice, lemon and sugar, iced tea has made a worldwide success in the last 20 years and has established itself as a supposedly healthier alternative to traditional lemonades. Now, however, Öko-Test has found that the refreshment drink consistently contains too much sugar and too many flavors and at the same time too little fruit juice content. Only one of the tested products scored "good" in the examination and is thus also recommended in the eyes of Öko-Test.

26 products has taken Ökotest in the interests of consumers under the microscope and comes to the appalling result that only the „Organic ice tea peach lemon“ by the company „Voelkel“, which is produced without artificial sweeteners and flavors and with a fruit juice content of about 12 percent, meets the requirements of the tester. The experts have orientated themselves on the fruit juice and sugar content of a classic apple spritzer in order to determine a criterion for the quality of the soft drink. A good iced tea should therefore z. B. contain no more than 47 grams of sugar per liter - which held only 6 of the tested products.

However, none of these 6 achieved a fruit juice content that met the standards of the testers. If only a small amount of fruit juice is present (in some cases only 0.1 percent), however, it is necessary to work with a correspondingly large number of flavors in order to achieve the desired flavor intensity. Thus, 25 manufacturers Ökotest could not convince with their products, with seven of them with the verdict „satisfying“ and 18 with the verdict „sufficient“ completed the test. In addition, the widespread use of preservatives, in particular of „potassium benzoate“ from the interplay with „ascorbic acid“ carcinogenic benzene, also negatively impacted on the test results.

Ice tea homemade is healthy

Anyone who wants to eat healthy with iced tea, can therefore only rely on a brand or alternatively produce it himself, which is also in the eyes of Öko-Test among the best variants. Simply brew any kind of tea, brew it to cool it, so that the natural flavorings are preserved and then enriched with appropriate fruit juices. Add a splash of lemon and a few ice cubes and the healthy refreshment drink is ready to cool off on hot summer days. For children, Ökotest exclusively recommends the use of herbal or fruit teas to prevent unhealthy stress „Teein“ etc. in children to avoid. (Sb)

Also read:
Refreshing tea tips for hot summer days
Do not brew green tea too hot
Ökotest: Diet products are no miracle cure

Picture: Brigitte Niedermeier