Are the pearls in bubble milk tea made of plastic?

No, the "pearls" in pearl milk tea are actually powder ball products made from starch as the main raw material. The commonly used tapioca starch is one. In addition, some wheat protein and food additives are also used for taste needs.

In order to have a good taste and chewy texture, some wheat protein is indeed used. Wheat protein is added because wheat protein has good hydration and structural properties, which can better combine with starch and make the starch "pearls" more elastic and delicious. Wheat protein is a protein that does not pose any harm to the human body except for some people who are allergic to wheat. All starchy foods will produce dextrin when eaten, and there is no need to worry about dextrin. Dextrin is a degradation product obtained from incomplete hydrolysis of starch. It is a mixture of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides composed of several to dozens of glucoses, including maltodextrin, cyclodextrin, etc. When we eat starch-containing foods such as bread and other meals, they gradually decompose into dextrin and then into glucose after entering the digestive tract before they can be used by the human body.

When starch is decomposed and hydrolyzed under the action of heat, acid or amylase, the macromolecule starch is first converted into the small molecule intermediate substance dextrin. If the pearls in pearl milk tea are made from sticky raw materials such as glutinous rice and arrowroot starch, it will be difficult to digest, and it will be bad if swallowed into the stomach without chewing.

2 Can the pearls in pearl milk tea cause intestinal obstruction?

It is possible, but it can only be considered a special case. The causes of intestinal obstruction are very diverse. In layman's terms, it means intestinal obstruction. This is related to the gastrointestinal absorption function of the sick person and the food they eat. For people with poor gastrointestinal function, or for young children and the elderly, drinking large amounts of pearl milk tea is still risky. The process of food being discharged from the stomach into the duodenum is called gastric emptying. Under normal circumstances, for mixed foods, it takes 4 to 6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. In the picture that went viral on the Internet, the reporter drank bubble milk tea and took a stomach CT scan just half an hour later. This does not prove the dangers of pearls, nor can it be concluded that bubble milk tea can cause intestinal obstruction.

If you swallow a large amount of pearls in pearl milk tea, it will not only cause difficulty in gastric emptying, but also risk inhalation into the organs. Therefore, you should chew slowly when eating, especially foods such as tapioca balls.

Remember! Young children should not eat elastic foods such as jelly and rice balls. Although the rumor that the pearls in bubble milk tea can cause intestinal obstruction has been proven to be false, elastic food like this is indeed difficult for young children to digest and is prone to accidents. Of course, if you really don’t trust the bubble milk tea sold on the street, you can make bubble milk tea at home

Making milk tea:

1. Put the black tea bag and water into a milk pot. After boiling over high heat, turn to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes, turn off the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. The next step is to make milk tea. There are two ratios of tea and milk in milk tea. The first is a tea-to-milk ratio of 1:3, and the second is a tea-to-milk ratio of 1:4. The former will have a smoother texture but a lighter tea flavor, while the latter will have a stronger tea flavor. You can choose according to your preference. 3. Choose your favorite tea-to-milk ratio. First pour evaporated milk into the cup, then pour in the black tea water. When making the black tea water, the milk pot should be at a certain height from the cup. This will produce a lot of milk froth. Milk tea is slippery when you drink it.

Making pearls

1. Mix brown sugar and hot water and bring to a boil. Add tapioca flour while hot. Pour in little by little, stirring while pouring, until it forms a dough. The amount of liquid will vary depending on the absorbency of different brands of tapioca flour, so don’t pour it all at once. If you find that the dough is still very dry after pouring the liquid, you can continue to add hot water until it forms a ball.

2. Rub pearls. According to the size you like, grab a little dough and roll it into a ball in the palm of your hand. The rolled pearls should be placed on a plate sprinkled with tapioca flour, otherwise they will stick. 3. After the water is boiled in the pot, add the rolled pearls and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. The specific time depends on the size of the pearls. After cooking, turn off the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

The cooked pearls are transparent~

Most drinks are not very healthy. The editor recommends that you drink more boiled water! After all, even foreign students joked at the graduation ceremony that in the past four years, no matter where he felt uncomfortable, his Chinese classmates would ask him to "drink more boiled water." China's boiled water is amazing.