Lung collapse due to bubble teas

Pediatricians warn: Infants may suffer from lung collapse due to bubble teas

01.03.2012

In more and more cities find the new cult tea drinks with the label „Bubble Tea“ Distribution. Especially children and adolescents love the brightly colored and sweet drinks. The high-sugar tea does not have much in common with a natural product. Paediatricians also warn against the serious health risks to young children. They could swallow the little globules in the tea. If they enter the trachea, the bullet could cause severe lung collapse or pneumonia.

Bullets can enter the trachea
The Professional Association of Children and Youth Physicians (BVKJ) warned on Wednesday in Cologne before the consumption of so-called „Bubble Teas“. Small children could swallow the small starchy globules in the doctors' opinion. The balls are included in each of these fashion drinks and are just the size of a peanut. Children and adolescents take the sticky measures over the straw. If these enter the trachea of ​​the child, severe pulmonary collapse can be provoked, which must be treated immediately by emergency medical care.

The reason for this is among other things the consistency of the balls and the kind of the admission of the drink. They are not only colorful and extremely sweet, but also sticky and gum-like. This makes it difficult for the consumer to chew them. If the bullets enter the lungs via the trachea, pneumonia may subsequently develop. Under certain circumstances, the mentioned lung collapse can happen. „If the globules enter the lungs via the trachea, they can lead to pneumonia or even to lung collapse“, warns Wolfram Hartmann.

Lung collapse is an emergency
Watching bystanders or parents that children suddenly suffer from severe cough after consuming the putative tea, should be acted immediately, as the president of the medical association, Dr. med. med. Wolfram Hartmann, stressed. Another symptom is respiratory distress, which may occur but is not always associated with pulmonary collapse. In such cases, parents should immediately notify the emergency call and have their child brought to a clinic with an ambulance. As a rule, a bronchoscopy is initiated in the hospital, „otherwise the complication rate will increase“, so the pediatrician. In this context, the association president called on the Federal Consumer Minister to create new legal regulations. In his opinion, warnings would have to be affixed to the tea cups and to the packaging in the shops.

Bubble-Tea: Today no more natural product
Bubble Tea was first offered in Taiwan over 26 years ago. Since then, the mixed drinks are sold everywhere in Asia on every corner. At that time, tea was actually used for the preparation. Mostly, the suppliers mixed the colorful balls with green, black or Olong tea. The globules consist of the starch of the cassava root and are cooked with maple syrup. When the tea was also offered in other parts of the world, the mixture also changed. Today, tea is still rare in bubble tea. And if, then only in very small quantities.

Too many calories today
The brand name „Bubble Tea“ But suggests that the drink is a probably healthy tea drink with natural ingredients. This is not what health experts have been warning about for some time. A mug of drink contains on average „one third of the total energy requirement per day“, says nutritionist Sven-David Müller. In a cup with a content of only 0.2 liters, between 300 and 500 calories are contained.

Main problem is the strong sweet syrup contained. In addition, numerous preservatives and dyes are included, so Müller. The colorful beads float in milk or in fruit juice with ice. „There is no trace of nature in this drink“, the expert warns „image“. With the label „Tea“ are supposed to be consumers today „be misled“. (Sb)

Image: Richy from zh, Wikipedia.org