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Beware organic herbal baby tea loaded with carcinogenic substances
Organic baby teas are contaminated with carcinogenic plant toxins. This is the result of a sample of the ZDF consumer magazine "WISO". A manufacturer has taken the affected tea batch from the market after the test.
Herbal poison in herbal baby teas
Only recently, a test of the ZDF magazine "WISO" showed that black tea is often contaminated with carcinogenic substances. In a further study of the consumer magazine so-called Pyrrolizidinalkaloide (PAs) could now be detected in five of a total of 17 herbal baby teas. According to the Federal Office for Risk Assessment (BfR), this herbal toxin can damage the organism and cause liver tumors at long and high doses.
A sample of the consumer magazine "WISO" has shown that many organic baby teas are contaminated with carcinogenic substances. The manufacturer of a tested product recalled the affected lot. (Image: torsakarin / fotolia.com) Manufacturer recalls affected tea batch after test
The detailed results of the test presented "WISO" on Monday, February 13, 2017, 19:25 on ZDF (Moderator: Marcus Niehaves). In a report, it was announced in advance that "WISO" had a total of 17 herbal teas for babies from the food trade, the discounters, pharmacies and drugstores in an independent laboratory test.
By far the most heavily loaded with PA was the tea from the pharmacy, the Sidroga infant and child tea. According to the information, the load on this product even reached the standard value of the BfR - which should not be exceeded in the long term for an adult.
Four other products were also burdened with PA. All five teas are organic products. Sidroga has taken the charged batch from the trade after the "WISO" test.
In a statement, the company states: "We stopped the sale of the tea as a preventative measure, informed the pharmacists, started a voluntary recall and ordered a follow-up examination of the batch-specific return samples."
Especially young children at risk
According to "WISO" especially infants and toddlers are at risk for their health, because PAs pose a particular risk to them. Their organism is extremely sensitive to harmful substances.
"That's why the PAs in baby tees have lost nothing at all," said child gastroenterologist Prof. Dr. med. med. Klaus-Michael Keller.
As early as 2013, increased PA levels were determined
BfR had already determined high PA values in individual teas in the summer of 2013. In 2014, "WISO" tested 19 baby tea varieties and was already able to detect carcinogenic plant toxins.
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against the dangerous long-term consequences of PAs even at low doses for years, there are no legal limits.
The Pyrrolizidinalkaloide are not in the tea herbs themselves, but in plants such as the ragwort. This grows as a weed between the tea herbs. Therefore, it easily gets into the crop. (Ad)