Taiwanese bubble tea has been found to be free of carcinogens in a second round of tests conducted by German authorities, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
A total of 84 Taiwanese beverage products were tested by the consumer protection agency of North Rhine-Westphalia, FDA officials said.
The products tested were six samples of bubble tea, 34 samples of concentrated juice and 44 samples of “popping boba,” a colorful translucent gummy ball containing flavored juices that can be added to drinks, the officials said.
The results indicated that none of the products contained cancer-causing chemicals such as styrene, acetophenone and brominated biphenyls or biphenyl carbonates, the FDA said.
The products were also found to contain no excessive levels of heavy-metal contaminants or other health-threatening agents, they said.
The tests were carried out in the wake of German media reports last month that Taiwanese bubble tea might contain carcinogens.
According to the Rheinischen Post, a test conducted by RWTH Aachen University on beverages sold at a Taiwanese bubble tea shop in Moenchengladbach found that they contained styrene, acetophenone and brominated substances. A few other media outlets also ran similar reports.
Teashop chain BoBoQ, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of bubble tea drink ingredients that has more than 100 franchise stores in Germany, said the negative reports have affected its business.
Lai Ming-ching, owner of Berlin-headquartered teashop chain BoBoQ and Possmei, rebutted the reports at the time and added that the company intends to collect evidence and may take legal action against the media outlets that ran “false reports” against BoBoQ’s products.
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