Why do Tea drinks have so many chemicals?!
Why do Tea drinks have so many chemicals?
Lipton, Nestea, Sobe, Arizona and others that now make teas for sale but they put so many chemicals in them that I wonder if there is really any amout of tea in them to recieve any health benifits? I wonder if I am drinking more chemcals than I am tea?
Why can't there be a tea that just has for ingredients: "Water and Tea", and that's it?
Answers:
Tea drinks have so many chemicals for a variety of reasons. One reason is to add fake enhanced flavors and colors because the average American consumer has been trained from a young age to expect artificial, strong flavors and colors instead of subtle natural flavors and color variations. In addition, fake colors and preservatives prevent the natural browning and precipitation that occurs in tea as it ages. The drink producers know that color and clarity affect the consumer's perception of the qulaity of the product, and so they want all their bottles of tea to look the same on the shelf and want to manipulate the consumer's psychological impression of the product. Thats why some "green" tea drinks and "healthy" drinks have those pleasant, pale nature colors.
Another reason these drinks are full of chemicals is to preserve them for an unnaturally long period of time - many brewed teas will turn moldy after a week or two of storage and preservatives make their shelf life longer and, hence, increase their profitabililty. Unfortunately, most preservatives are very bad for you. Just this past year, English scientists discovered that sodium benzoate (very common preservative) damages the mitochondria in human DNA and also causes behavior problems in children.
The last reason is probably because consumers do not voice their opinion and the government agencies in charge of regulating food seem to favor business interests instead of consumer health. Almost every business decision made by a corporation has to do with increasing profit - by adding a slew of chemicals to your drinks, they increase sales through increased shelf life, enhances appearance and consumer perception.
Source(s):
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/ar... (sodium benzoate research)
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/578008... (info on tea drink shelf stabilization and flavoring)
just buy yr own tea leaves n brew yr own tea. be sure to pour boiling water into yr cup first, then throw away the water then pour in the brewed tea. that's how tea is supposed to be prepared anyways. i know what u mean, when u see de label n see so many other preservatives n stuff it kinda eeks u out. all these nonsense destroy the true taste of the tea....sigh...good luck..
Better to brew your own. None of that stuff tastes like tea to me. Tastes more like some kind of flat soda.
The FDA (Food and Drink Administration) can get away with it. The Food Industry created the FDA, so the Food Industry can do what ever they want. And even if they just listed "water & tea," they can still put zillions of chemicals in it & not get in trouble for not labeling it.
because it's good..lol