Tea bags are convenient to use and are very popular in many countries around the world.
Unfortunately, it is often counterfeited here.
It is necessary to learn to distinguish the "right" drink from one that will harm your health.
A little background
Tea producing countries: India, China, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Indonesia. Tea is also grown and produced in the Krasnodar region of Russia and in some African countries. It is a good product.
Re-exporting countries: USA, Germany, Denmark, Holland. They do not falsify the product, but simply buy low-grade goods from producers, package them beautifully and sell them at exorbitant prices. There are no violations here either. Buyers voluntarily purchase third-grade goods at the price of the highest.
The most common raw material of Ceylon and Indian tea bag production is granulated tea. And small broken leaf is its best option.
Tea bags are made from finely ground leaves. The remaining tea dust is not used. When instant drinks gained wide recognition, enterprising people appeared. They buy dust from producers for pennies and pack it as tea. This is already a fake.
For reference: The profit from the production and sale of dust is about 3000%.
Recognition
Testing begins at the counter and ends there. The only thing you can do in the store is to examine the packaging. The tea is stored for three years. The production date is indicated. It is easy to calculate.
The first obstacle is the stated time of packaging for calculating the expiration date. The manufacturer does not specify the period of time the raw materials remain in the production warehouse. The result? 20% of the expired product is sold, containing aflatoxin, a substance that damages the liver and immune system.
The name of the manufacturer of inexpensive tea bags is often not indicated on the package. This should raise doubts that inside, although cheap, there is a real product.
You can check what is in there (finely ground leaves or tea dust) only after purchase. If the bottom of the box is sprinkled with tea dust, then there is dust in the bags.
Clean box - a product made of natural ground leaf has been purchased. Compliance with the specified expiration date is checked by brewing.
If a small white coating does not appear when boiling water is added, then the raw material was collected more than two years ago; in this case, a dark mark remains on the bottom and walls of the container.
Tea dissolves very quickly even at low temperatures? Artificial dyes are used. In real tea, lemon brightens the drink.
