Now some people say that the milk in milk tea on the market is not milk, but creamer, also called creamer, which contains trans fatty acids, which is harmful to the cardiovascular system and increases the risk of cancer. Can I use cream for milk tea? Is cremer really that terrible?

In fact, creamer is a substitute for milk. Its main component is non-dairy creamer, which is a legal substance to replace milk. Non-cream or oil powder, also known as cream substitute and powder oil, was first used for coffee partners. It is a kind of powdered cream, which is used to replace milk in making coffee. Its main components are vegetable fat, corn syrup and vegetable protein.

First of all, creamer is different from trans fatty acids. The creamer contains hydrogenated vegetable oil, which may indeed contain trans fat, but the content is not high. The survey data showed that the average trans fat content of milk tea/creamer was 0.41g100g [1], and only a few products had higher trans fat content. In addition, after technical improvement, creamer can completely achieve zero trans fatty acids. Moreover, creamer is not the only source of trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids also exist in natural foods, such as meat, fat, milk and dairy products of cattle and sheep. Of course, the content is not high.

Whether trans fatty acids are harmful to health depends on how much you eat. In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested that the energy supply ratio of trans fatty acids should be lower than 1% (note: the energy supply ratio of trans fatty acids refers to the percentage of total energy intake provided by trans fatty acids). However, the TFA energy supply ratio between men and women in China is 0.2%, and the 20 1 1 TFA energy supply ratio among residents in Beijing, Guangzhou and other big cities is 0.3%. In other words, the trans fat intake of most China residents is below the recommended standard of 1%. It can be seen that most of us don't eat much trans fatty acids. Therefore, don't worry too much about drinking milk tea occasionally. However, even if there is no trans fatty acid in milk tea, there is a lot of saturated fat. In addition, sugar is very high in energy, so don't drink too much. (Further reading: Can creamer still be eaten? )

Myth 2: The tea taste of milk tea is essence, which is harmful to health.

Some people say that the tea taste of milk tea is essence. Eating too much essence will cause gastrointestinal discomfort, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms, and it will also cause neurological disorders. Is the essence really that scary?

The milk tea we are drinking now has different tastes, such as green tea and taro, to meet people's needs for different tastes, and many tastes are the function of essence. At present, there are thousands of flavors and fragrances allowed to be used, most of which are very safe. For the allowed flavors and fragrances, their safety can be completely guaranteed. In the understanding of food flavors, many people think that flavors are unsafe. In fact, as long as it is allowed to be used in China, the safety can be assured.

First of all, China has very strict regulations on the use of flavors and fragrances. At present, there are more than 4000 kinds of edible spices used all over the world. Among them, more than 2000 GRAS substances (generally considered as safe substances) are recognized by FEMA (American Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association). Flavors and fragrances considered as GRAS are generally added by enterprises according to their own needs, and there is no need to make quota regulations. China is very cautious in determining the list of edible spices. Only China, which has been approved by more than two developed countries, will be considered as a food additive standard in China. At present, there are more than 1000 kinds of edible spices listed in the use standard of food additives in China, and others are not allowed to be used [2]. These allowed essences have been evaluated for safety, and the safety can be assured.

Secondly, the use of flavors and fragrances is very low, and enterprises generally do not overuse them. Essence is a kind of material with strong "self-binding". Using a small amount of essence can increase the fragrance, but if it is used in excess, it will not only produce a pleasant fragrance, but also produce a pungent and disgusting smell. It's impossible to add any more. Therefore, food companies tend to be very cautious when using flavors, and will not use them more. For consumers, there is no need to worry about the safety of essence for regular milk tea purchased through formal channels.

Myth 3: The sweetness of milk tea is saccharin, which is harmful.

A common saying is that the sweetness of milk tea comes from saccharin, which is harmful to human body. In fact, saccharin is a legally used sweetener, and its safety can be guaranteed.

Now many drinks, including milk tea, are using various sweeteners, including saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame, aspartame and so on. The use of sweeteners in food industry also has its advantages. Sweetener does not produce energy when it enters human metabolism, and its sweetness is much higher than that of sucrose. For example, the sweetness of cyclamate is 50 times that of sucrose, saccharin is 300 to 500 times that of sucrose, aspartame is about 200 times that of sucrose, and acesulfame K is 200 to 250 times that of sucrose. Only a small amount of sweetener is needed to obtain sucrose. Because of this, sweeteners are welcomed by food enterprises and some people, and are used more and more in food enterprises. For example, the popular coke zero is aspartame. Therefore, people do not have to worry too much about the unsafe sweetness of milk tea.

Myth 4: Tea pearls should be flavored with plastic.

It is said that the "pearl" of bubble tea is mainly cassava starch. In order to be elastic and chewy, wheat protein and synthetic polymer materials, namely plastics, are added. Does bubble tea always eat plastic?

The "pearl" in bubble tea is actually a powder round product made of starch as the main raw material. In order to taste good and chewy, some wheat protein is indeed used. Wheat protein is added because it has good hydration and structural characteristics, and can be better combined with starch, making the starch "pearl" more elastic and delicious. Wheat protein is a kind of protein. Except for some people who are allergic to wheat, wheat protein will not cause any harm to human body.

In addition, in order to make "Pearl" powder more mellow, some food additives are used in the processing, mainly coagulants, stabilizers and thickeners. Such as mirabilite, magnesium chloride, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, etc. As long as it is an allowable and legally used additive, the safety can be guaranteed. Such as mirabilite, alias sodium sulfate. It is a common food additive and used as a processing aid. According to China's national standards, sodium sulfate, as a processing aid, can be used in all kinds of food processing, and the residue does not need to be limited. JECFA, an international authoritative organization, evaluates mirabilite and does not limit the ADI value of sodium sulfate for the time being; Magnesium chloride is the most commonly used coagulant, which is commonly used in bean products. JECFA did not limit ADI value after evaluating it. However, there is no need to worry that merchants will add too much, because magnesium chloride has a strong bitter taste, and usually the addition amount is within 0. 1%. If the merchant adds this thing more, it will be bitter. Will there be such delicious milk tea?

Therefore, it is rumored that the harmful chemicals added to milk tea are actually commonly used food additives, and there are relevant regulations in national standards. Normal use will not cause harm to human body at all. As for saying that polymer is plastic, there is no basis at all. In fact, starch and wheat protein are also polymers.

Myth 5: Paper cup milk tea has fluorescent whitening agent, and the ink outside the paper cup will seep in.

It is said that many paper cups are made of waste paper, and there may be fluorescent brighteners in the waste paper.

Now people often drink milk tea, such as a milk tea that claims to be sold all over the world. The paper cups they use are actually divided into two layers. Among them, the outer paper is printing paper, on which various patterns can be printed, while the inner paper cannot be printed, and fluorescent brighteners are not allowed to be used. Moreover, the inner layer of the cup filled with hot drinks is generally coated with polyethylene, and the printed matter on the outer layer will not penetrate into it. The inner paper bowl of the paper cup is enough to ensure food safety.

In the food industry, polyethylene coated cups have become the mainstream paper cup products. Polyethylene coated cup is a relatively new technology. This kind of cup will be coated with a thin layer of polyethylene (PE) plastic when casting, which is equivalent to covering the paper cup with a plastic film. The biggest advantage of polyethylene coated cup is that it can handle hot and cold drinks freely. It can withstand the high temperature of about 90 degrees and is very waterproof, so it is favored by the food industry. Consumers don't have to worry about fluorescent brighteners.

Because it is a two-layer paper, the paper inside is also covered with polyethylene, and the ink outside will not penetrate.

(Further reading: Is there any paraffin in the instant noodle bucket? )

Myth 6: Will drinking milk tea hinder the health of tea?

This statement is very popular. Scientists have always believed that drinking tea is good for health. However, the research report of European Heart Journal says that drinking milk tea will affect the health care effect of tea [3], and there is even a saying that milk tea is not good for heart health. Is drinking milk tea really more unhealthy?

Modern science believes that the health of drinking tea is mainly due to polyphenols in tea. Polyphenols in tea are usually called "tea polyphenols", among which catechins are the most famous. They have good antioxidant function and can reduce oxidative damage to cells. However, protein in milk may combine with polyphenols. Will this combination affect the efficacy of drinking tea?

It is the first method that people think of to directly determine the antioxidant activity of tea after adding milk. The results show that tea has good antioxidant activity, but if milk is added to tea, the antioxidant activity will be greatly reduced. This seems to show that milk can indeed inhibit the "health function" of tea. However, this inhibition is caused by the combination of milk and polyphenols. But after entering the human body, the reaction is completely different. After drinking in the stomach, protein will be decomposed and digested, and polyphenols may be completely released. Can these polyphenols be absorbed? Is it still active?

So scientists must study the changes in the human body. Generally, we can detect whether tea polyphenols reach the blood by analyzing the blood. As early as 1990s, a study by Italian scientists was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They found that when milk was added to tea, the antioxidant activity in the body was completely inhibited [4]. But then the magazine published a study by Dutch scientists, who directly detected the content of catechins in blood and found that adding milk to tea had no effect on the absorption of catechins [5]. In the following 10 years, scientists in the Netherlands, India and Britain published other experiments, and the results showed that milk did not affect the absorption of polyphenols in tea. So whether milk is added to tea or not, we can get the same amount of tea polyphenols.

In addition, it is not clear whether tea polyphenols really have the "health care function" of caring for heart health after entering the human body. Although epidemiological surveys show that people who drink more tea have a lower incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, it is entirely possible that this is caused by other lifestyles of these people, such as their tendency to eat healthier. More scientific data are needed to explain the "health function" of drinking tea. So, so is milk tea. It doesn't matter if you like it or drink it occasionally. As for whether tea polyphenols can be absorbed and whether they can play a health care role after absorption, it is not so important. Don't take its "health care role" too seriously.

Myth 7: Do you get kidney calculi if you drink milk tea?

Milk contains high calcium and tea contains oxalic acid. The combination of the two will form calcium oxalate, which is easy to form stones when entering the human body. Will you really get kidney calculi if you drink milk tea?

In fact, the human body itself has oxalic acid, called endogenous oxalic acid. What you eat from food is called exogenous oxalic acid. Endogenous oxalic acid is a normal metabolic substance of human body, but its content in the body is very low. Glycine, glycolic acid, hydroxyproline, vitamin C and other substances may be converted into oxalic acid after metabolism in the body. Especially when the intake of vitamin B6 is insufficient, the human body cannot metabolize oxalic acid precursors into other substances, such as helping glyoxylic acid to metabolize into glycine and preventing it from forming oxalic acid, so the risk of increasing 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 the formation of kidney calculi, while excessive intake of substances that can be metabolized into oxalic acid, too little intake of dietary calcium, or too much intake of protein are all possible reasons for promoting the formation of kidney calculi. Some people think that it may be caused by the lack of oxalic acid-degrading microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract or the abnormal function of the gastrointestinal tract, but these claims are still in the speculative stage.

Milk is famous for its rich calcium content and easy absorption, and oxalic acid does exist in tea. Generally speaking, the calcium content in every 100 ml of milk is about120 mg, and about 1.5-6.8 mg of oxalic acid can be dissolved in every gram of tea [6]. Ordinary people generally do not make more than 2 grams of tea. Roughly, a cup of 200 ml tea contains about 10 mg of oxalic acid. Moreover, the activity of oxalic acid dissolved in tea is also very low, and the absorption rate is only 2.4%[7]. Drinking milk tea may produce little calcium oxalate.

In addition, even if calcium meets milk, it will produce some calcium oxalate, because it is an insoluble precipitate after combining into calcium oxalate. Because it cannot be dissolved, this calcium oxalate precipitate will hardly be absorbed by the human body, but will be directly discharged from the large intestine with human excrement.

In 2003, the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study. The researchers gave two groups of experimenters six cups of tea a day, one with milk and the other without milk. It was found that the oxalic acid in their urine hardly changed [8]. In 2008, Swedish scientists studied the absorption of calcium oxalate by the leaves of a plant rich in oxalic acid mixed with milk and coconut juice. The results show that people excrete a little less oxalic acid after eating mixed dairy products, indicating that the kidneys absorb less oxalic acid after eating mixed dairy products [9]. In a word, there is no evidence that adding milk to tea will cause kidney calculi.

Generally speaking, milk tea is just an ordinary drink. Whether it is really replaced by milk or creamer, there is nothing wrong with it. When there is milk tea in front of you, you might as well say: hello, milk tea, and then, savor it. However, milk tea on the market is often high in sugar, fat and energy, so don't be greedy.