Plastic Bits Released in Some “Pyramid Bag” Teas

If you’re enjoying your daily cuppa from one of those fancy little pyramid tea bags, you could be sipping billions of bits of plastic, alongside the antioxidants and caffeine, whether you know it or not.

A research study out of McGill University warns the “silken” bags that have become super popular in recent years contain billions of microscopic and nanoscopic plastic particles. The bags are made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or nylon, which can break down in hot water.

It’s an unsettling thought.

You buy a nice tea. It comes in a silky plastic mesh satchel. You pour boiling water on it and leave it to steep for several minutes. Then you drink it.

Common sense says when you boil plastic some of it is bound to release into your brew. And now the evidence is there to affirm it’s not just some plastic bits … it’s billions of microscopic and nanoscopic pieces of plastic.

The worrisome part is that there’s no solid research that speaks to what happens when these particles of plastic get absorbed into our system.

What are the long-term health implications of ingesting billions of microscopic plastic bits every day (and several times a day for the most health conscious consumers)?

In the study, the researchers exposed water fleas to the plastic pouch teas. The brew didn’t kill them but bugs exhibited significant behavioural and developmental anomalies.

Suffice to say, the act of boiling any kind of plastic and then putting it into your body just doesn’t feel healthy.

It feels counterintuitive.

And, as the researchers called out, with the global movement to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics, it feels unnecessary.

The good news is that the best teas don’t come in tea bags. They’re loose-leaf teas, and if you drink tea for health, this is really how you want to be enjoying your tea.

No fancy flavour additives. And no silky pyramid bags. Just single-origin, high-grade, organically grown, farmer direct tea is best.

At Millennia TEA, we take the equation one step further.

Because we believe tea is a powerful ally in promoting healing and overall well-being, we preserve the tea leaf in its most natural form. So no drying and cooking the leaves like conventional tea companies (black and green teas start out from the same leaf, it’s just how they process the tea that determines the finished variety).

We do the opposite. We wash and flash-freeze fresh-picked tea leaves.

Why? More antioxidants and a fresh-from-the-field taste unlike anything on the market today.

The problem with teas today

The big barrier to people drinking more loose-leaf tea is that conventional dried teas require special steeping instructions (time/temp). If you mess it up (i.e. boil the water too hot, steep the leaf crumbles too long) they’re super bitter.

In addition to more antioxidants, we are the only company globally (that we know of) that washes our tea leaves. And you can’t really mess up fresh-leaf tea. You don’t have to worry about the temperature of the water, and fresh-leaf tea doesn’t get bitter, even after hours of steeping.

So go ahead, serve up a cup, and feel good knowing you’re drinking tea – just tea – in its most real, raw, natural form.

Read the news

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/tea-bags-plastic-study-mcgill-1.5295662