You know a few misunderstandings about milk tea
Myth 1: The milk in milk tea is all creamer, and creamer is trans fatty acids
Now some people say: the milk in the commercially available milk tea is not milk, but creamer. Creamer, also known as non-fat powder, contains trans fatty acids, which are not good for cardiovascular diseases and increase the risk of tumors. Can creamer be used in milk tea? Is creamer really that scary?
Creamer is actually a substance that replaces milk. Its main ingredient is non-dairy powder, which is a legal substance used to replace milk. Non-dairy powder, also known as creamer and powder oil, was first used in coffee. It is a kind of milk powder added to replace milk when brewing coffee. Its main ingredients are vegetable fat, corn syrup and vegetable protein.
First of all, creamer is not the same as trans fatty acids. Creamer contains hydrogenated vegetable oil, which may indeed contain trans fats, but the content is not high. Survey data show that the average trans fat content of milk tea/creamer is 0.41 grams/100 grams, only individual products have higher content. In addition, after process improvement, creamer can achieve zero trans fatty acids. And creamer is not the only source of trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are also found in natural foods, such as meat, fat, milk and dairy products from cattle, sheep, etc. Of course, the amount is not high.
Whether trans fatty acids are harmful to health depends on how much you eat. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended in 2003 that the energy supply ratio of trans fatty acids should be less than 1% (Note: The energy supply ratio of trans fatty acids refers to the energy provided by trans fatty acids as a percentage of total dietary energy intake). The TFA energy supply ratio for men and women in our country is 0.2%. In 2011, the TFA energy supply ratio for residents of big cities like Beijing and Guangzhou was 0.3%. That is to say, the vast majority of people in our country have a trans fat intake below the recommended standard of 1%. It can be seen that most of us do not eat too much trans fatty acids. Therefore, you don't have to worry too much about drinking milk tea occasionally. However, even if milk tea does not contain trans fatty acids, it also has a lot of saturated fat. In addition, with sugar, it is very high in energy. Therefore, it is better not to drink too much.
Myth 2: The pearls in bubble tea must be added with plastic for the taste
Rumor has it that the "pearls" of bubble tea are mainly tapioca starch. In order to be elastic and chewy, wheat protein and synthetic polymer materials, namely plastic, are also added. Do you eat plastic for bubble tea?
The "pearl" in pearlmilktea is actually a powder round product made of starch as the main raw material. For a good taste and chewiness, some wheat protein is indeed used. Wheat protein is added because wheat protein has good hydration and structural properties, which can better bind to starch, and at the same time make the starch "pearl" more elastic and delicious. Wheat protein is a protein that does not pose any harm to the human body except for some people who are allergic to wheat.
In addition, in order to make a better "pearl" powder round, some food additives will be used in the processing process, mainly coagulants, stabilizers and thickeners. Such as mirabilite, magnesium chloride, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, etc. As long as it is an additive that is allowed to be used and used legally, the safety can be assured. For example, mirabilite, alias sodium sulfate. It is a common food additive and is used as a processing aid. According to our country's national standards, sodium sulfate can be used as a processing aid in various food processing processes, and the residual amount does not need to be limited. The international authoritative organization JECFA evaluated glauberite, but there is no limit on the ADI value of sodium sulfate for the time being. Magnesium chloride is the most commonly used coagulant and is often used in soy products. After JECFA evaluated it, there is no limit on the ADI value. However, there is no need to worry that merchants will add too much, because magnesium chloride has a strong bitter taste, and the usual addition amount is less than 0.1%. If merchants add too much of this thing, it will be bitter. Would there be such a delicious milk tea?
Therefore, the harmful chemicals added to milk tea in the rumors are actually commonly used food additives, and there are relevant provisions in the national standards, so normal use will not harm the human body at all. As for the polymer material is plastic, there is no basis at all. In fact, starch and wheat protein themselves are also polymer substances.
Myth 3: The sweetness of milk tea is saccharin, and saccharin is harmful
A common saying is that the sweetness of milk tea comes from saccharin, which is harmful to the human body. In fact, saccharin is a legally used sweetener, and the safety can be assured.
Nowadays, many beverages, including milk tea, use various sweeteners, including saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame, aspartame, etc. The use of sweeteners in the food industry also has its advantages. Sweeteners do not generate energy when they enter the human body's metabolism, and the sweetness of sweeteners is much higher than that of sucrose. For example, cyclamate is 50 times sweeter than sucrose, saccharin is 300 to 500 times sweeter than sucrose, aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than sucrose, and acesulfame is 200 to 250 times sweeter than sucrose. The use of sweeteners requires only a very small amount to achieve the same sweetness effect as sucrose, which is equivalent to reducing sugar intake. Because of this, sweeteners are very popular among food companies and some people, and they are used more and more in food companies. For example, the popular Coke Zero uses aspartame. Therefore, people don't have to worry too much about the sweetness of milk tea.
Misunderstanding 4: The tea aroma of milk tea is all flavors, and flavors are harmful to health
Some people say that the tea aroma of milk tea is flavor, and eating too much flavor can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms, and can also cause nervous disorders. Is flavor really so scary?
The milk tea you drink now has various flavors such as green tea flavor and taro flavor to meet people's needs for different flavors. Many fragrances are the function of flavors. There are thousands of flavors and fragrances allowed to be used at present, and most of them are very safe. For the flavors and fragrances allowed to be used, their safety can be completely assured. In the understanding of food flavors, many people will feel that flavors are not safe. In fact, as long as they are allowed to be used in our country, the safety can be assured.
First of all, our country has very strict regulations on the use of flavors and fragrances. At present, there are more than 4,000 kinds of food fragrances used in countries around the world, among which there are more than 2,000 GRAS substances recognized by the American Food Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association FEMA. It is believed that the flavors and fragrances of GRAS are generally added by enterprises according to their own needs, and there is no need to make limited regulations. Our country is very cautious in determining the list of food fragrances. Only food fragrances approved by more than two developed countries in the world will be considered for inclusion in our country's food additive standards. At present, there are more than 1,000 kinds of food fragrances listed in our country's food additive use standards, and others are not allowed to be used. These allowed flavors have undergone security evaluation, and the safety can be assured.
Secondly, the use of flavors and fragrances is very low, and companies generally do not use too much. Flavors are a class of substances with strong "self-restraint". Using a small amount of flavors can increase the fragrance, but if you use too much, not only will you not get a pleasant fragrance, but it will produce a pungent and disgusting smell. It is impossible to add more. Therefore, food companies are often very cautious when using flavors and do not use more. For consumers, regular milk tea purchased through regular channels does not have to worry about the safety of flavors.
Misunderstanding 5: Paper cup milk tea has fluorescent whitening agent, and the ink outside the paper cup will seep into it
It is said that many paper cups are now filled with waste paper, which may contain fluorescent whitening agents.
Nowadays, people often drink milk tea, such as a certain milk tea that claims to sell the world around, the paper cups they use are actually divided into two layers. The outer layer of paper is printing paper, which can print various patterns on it, while the inner layer of paper cannot be printed, and fluorescent whitening agents are not allowed. Moreover, the inner layer of the cup containing hot drinks is generally coated with a layer of polyethylene coating, and the outer printing material will not penetrate into the inside. The inner layer of the paper cup is enough to ensure food safety.
In the food industry, polyethylene coated cups are already the mainstream paper cup products. Polyethylene coated cups are a relatively new process. This cup will be coated with a thin layer of polyethylene (PE) plastic coating on the surface of the paper during casting molding, which is equivalent to a layer of plastic film covering the paper cup. The biggest advantage of polyethylene coated cups is that both cold and hot drinks can be easily handled. It can withstand high temperatures of about 90 degrees and can also withstand very good water, so it is very popular in the food industry. Consumers also don't have to worry about the problem of fluorescent whitening agents.
Since it is two layers of paper and the inner layer of paper has a polyethylene coating, the outer printing ink will not penetrate into it.
Myth 6: Drinking milk tea can cause kidney stones
Milk contains high calcium, while tea contains oxalic acid. The combination of the two will form calcium oxalate, which is easy to form stones when it enters the human body. Does drinking milk tea really cause kidney stones?
In fact, there is also oxalic acid in the human body. This kind of oxalic acid produced by the body itself is called endogenous oxalic acid. And what is eaten from food is called exogenous oxalic acid. Endogenous oxalic acid is a normal metabolic substance of the human body, but the content in the body is very low. Glycine, hydroxyacetic acid, hydroxyproline, vitamin C and other substances may be converted into oxalic acid after metabolism in the body. Especially when vitamin B6 intake is insufficient, the human body cannot metabolize oxalic acid precursors into other substances, such as helping glyoxylic acid metabolize into glycine to prevent it from forming oxalic acid, then the risk of increased oxalic acid content in urine will be greater.
At present, the medical community believes that excessive intake of oxalic acid is not the main reason for promoting kidney stones. Excessive intake of substances that can metabolize oxalic acid, or too little dietary calcium intake, or too much protein intake are all possible reasons for promoting the formation of kidney stones. Others believe that it may be caused by the lack of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract that degrade oxalic acid, or abnormal gastrointestinal function, but these claims are still in the speculative stage.
Milk is known for being rich in calcium and easy to absorb, and tea leaves do contain oxalic acid. Generally speaking, the calcium content in every 100 ml of milk is about 100-120 mg, and each gram of tea leaves can dissolve about 1.5-6 mg of oxalic acid. Ordinary people generally make no more than 2 grams of tea, and it is roughly estimated that a cup of 200 ml tea contains about 10 mg of oxalic acid. Moreover, the activity of oxalic acid dissolved in tea leaves is also very low, with an absorption rate of only 2.4%. Drinking some milk tea may produce very little calcium oxalate.
In addition, even if calcium and milk meet to produce some calcium oxalate, since the combination of calcium oxalate is a precipitate that is not easily soluble, since it cannot be dissolved, this calcium oxalate precipitate is hardly absorbed by the body, but is directly discharged from the large intestine with human excrement.
In a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers gave two groups of experimenters six cups of tea a day, one with milk and the other without. The results found that the people in the milk group had little change in oxalic acid in their urine. In 2008, Swedish scientists studied the absorption of calcium oxalate after mixing the leaves of an oxalic acid-rich plant with milk, coconut milk, etc. The results found that after eating mixed dairy products, people excreted a small amount of oxalic acid, indicating that after mixing with dairy products, the kidneys absorbed less oxalic acid. In short, there is no evidence to prove that adding milk to tea will cause kidney stones.
Overall, milk tea is just an ordinary drink, whether it is really used with milk or replaced with creamer, it is understandable. When there is milk tea in front of you, you might as well say: milk tea, hello, and then, taste it carefully. However, commercially available milk tea is often high in sugar and fat, high in energy, and everyone should not be greedy.
Myth 7: Drinking tea with milk can hinder the health of tea
This claim is very popular, and scientists have long believed that drinking tea is good for health. However, studies have reported that drinking tea with milk can affect the health effects of tea, and there are even claims that milk tea is bad for heart health. Is drinking tea with milk really unhealthy?
Modern science believes that the health of drinking tea is mainly due to the polyphenol compounds in tea. The polyphenol compounds in tea are usually called "tea polyphenols", among which catechins are the most famous. They have good antioxidant functions and can reduce oxidative damage to cells. However, proteins in milk may bind to polyphenol compounds. Will this combination affect the efficacy of drinking tea?
The direct measurement of the antioxidant activity of tea and milk for comparison was the first method that people thought of. It was found that tea has good antioxidant activity, but if milk is added to the tea, the antioxidant activity is greatly reduced. This seems to suggest that milk can indeed inhibit the "health care function" of tea. However, this inhibition is caused by the combination of milk and polyphenols. However, the reaction after entering the human body is completely different. After drinking it in the stomach, the protein will be broken down and digested, and the polyphenols may be released completely. Can these polyphenols be absorbed? Are they still active?
So scientists have to study the changes in the human body, usually by analyzing the blood to detect whether tea polyphenols have arrived in the blood. As early as the 1990s, the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study by Italian scientists, who found that when milk was added to tea, the antioxidant activity in the body was completely suppressed. But then the journal published a study by Dutch scientists, who directly measured the amount of catechins in the blood and found that adding milk to tea had no effect on the absorption of catechins. In the following 10 years, scientists in the Netherlands, India, and the United Kingdom published other experiments, and the results showed that milk did not affect the absorption of polyphenols in tea. Therefore, regardless of whether milk is added to the tea or not, we can obtain the same amount of tea polyphenols.
In addition, it is still unclear whether tea polyphenols really have a "health care effect" in caring for heart health when they enter the human body. Although epidemiological surveys show that people who drink a lot of tea have a lower incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, it is entirely possible that this is caused by other lifestyles of these people. For example, they tend to eat healthier and so on. To explain the "health care effect" of drinking tea, more scientific data is still needed. Therefore, the same is true for milk tea. It is not a problem if you like it or drink it occasionally. As for whether tea polyphenols can be absorbed and whether they can play a health care effect after absorption, it is not so important, and don't take its "health care effect" too seriously.
