Study finds unsafe levels of sugar in bubble tea

Bubble tea remains a massively popular beverage in the country.
Bubble tea remains a massively popular beverage in the country.

Nearly all bubble tea sold in markets across the country exceed the recommended upper limit of the daily sugar intake recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Foundation for Consumers warned on Thursday.

The watchdog tested samples collected from 25 brands in May, including ones with tapioca "pearls" for sugar levels and found that almost 100% of the samples had an excessive amount of sugar. It also added that eating too much sugar could lead to weight gain and other health problems.

The agency said it collected its samples under the criteria that they were all the same regular size with no ice and with each cup priced between 23 baht to 140 baht. The samples were taken for laboratory testing to check for calories, sugars, fat, and heavy metals like lead and preservatives.

The result showed that only two brands - KOI Thé and TEA 65° - had an amount of sugar per glass lower than the recommended upper limit of daily sugar intake as recommended by the WHO. However, the test did not cover the entire bubble tea market in Thailand which has hundreds of brands.

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Vocabulary

  • calorie (noun): a measure of how much energy a person gets from food (people worried about eating many calories and becoming fat); a unit for measuring heat - แคลอรี, หน่วยความร้อน ใช้สัญลักษณ์ cal 1 แคลอรี คือ ปริมาณความร้อนที่ทำให้น้ำหนึ่งกรัมมีอุณหภูมิสูงขึ้นจาก 14.5 °C เป็น 15.5°C ที่ความดันปกติ 1 cal = 4.185 J
  • criteria: a standard that is used for judging something or for making a decision about something - บรรทัดฐาน
  • entire: including everything, everyone or every part - ทั้งหมด
  • excessive: much greater than is usual; too much of something   - มากเกินปริมาณที่พอดี
  • tapioca (cassava): a tropical plant with roots that can be cooked and eaten or made into flour - มันสำปะหลัง
  • watchdog: an organisation or person that works to stop people from doing dangerous or illegal things - ผู้จ้องจับผิด

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