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With carcinogenic pollutants warning of chamomile tea
Experts have been calling for suppliers of herbal teas to pay more attention to the cultivation and harvesting of tea production plants for years. But time and again it draws attention to pollutants in teas. The Stiftung Warentest is currently warning of a chamomile tea that is contaminated with carcinogenic substances.
Herbal teas contaminated with pollutants
For several years now, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has been calling on suppliers of herbal teas to take care when growing and harvesting plants for herbal tea and tea production. Nevertheless, there are always headlines such as: Many herbal and peppermint teas contain plant toxins, carcinogenic plant toxin found in organic baby tea, or: Black tea often contaminated with pollutants. Right now the Stiftung Warentest warns against chamomile tea of the French brand Kusmi Tea. It stated "extremely high levels of pollutants".
Stiftung Warentest warns of a chamomile tea that is contaminated with carcinogenic pollutants. These are tea bags of the brand Kusmi Tea. (Image: amenic181 / fotolia.com) Carcinogenic Pyrrolizdinalkaloide in chamomile tea
According to consumer advocates on their website, in the midst of testing for a herbal tea test, experts came across a chamomile tea that is extremely contaminated with pyrrolizdinal alkaloids (PA).
According to the data, the proven content of a total of 73.2 milligrams per kilogram of tea is so harmful to health that the testers already warn against the consumption of this tea - two months before the test is published.
Mutagenic and carcinogenic effects
"PA are secondary ingredients that are made by plants to repel predators. In foods, they are undesirable because they damage the liver and showed mutagenic and carcinogenic effects in animal experiments, "the BfR writes in a statement.
"Herbal teas contaminated with PA, including rooibos tea, as well as black and green tea and honey are the main sources that allow consumers to ingest PA. The amounts of PA contained in these foods can be harmful to both children and adults with prolonged (chronic) intake, "it continues.
"However, there is no acute health risk here." There is still no legal maximum level for pyrrolizidine carbohydrates in foods.
Affected tea should not be drunk
The testers found the carcinogenic contaminants in teabags of the brand "Kusmi Tea Camomille" with the best before date 10/2019. The batch number of the cardboard packaging is: LOT 161031, the batch number of the tea bags: LOT: KUS163121.
The testers warn against drinking the tea of this batch. The teabags had been tested for 28 different pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It was found that the contents of a single teabag contained 161 micrograms of PA. This is 380 times the long-term low-risk daily intake for an adult.
Found amount harmless according to distributors
The Stiftung Warentest has sent the analysis results to the distributor of the tea in the German market, the company Orientis in Kehl, Baden-Württemberg. The company has responded and relies in general on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Thus, "side effects in a 60 kg human could occur only when the consumption of alkaloids is higher than 120 mg per day. The findings of Stiftung Warentest, if confirmed, would therefore mean that a consumer would have to consume more than 1.6 kilograms of chamomile tea, about 730 cups, so that a side effect could possibly occur. "
The consumer advocates can not understand this reasoning according to their own information. They base their warning on scientific recommendations. The affected batch should therefore not actually be sold. (Ad)