Beverage chain stores are understating the sugar and calories in their drinks because of a regulatory loophole that needs to be eliminated, the John Tung Foundation said on Monday.
Presenting the results of a survey it conducted in May and last month of 31 stores from 18 beverage chains and 67 kinds of drinks, the foundation said some stores posted misleading information on sugar content, while others offered none at all, leaving consumers in the dark.
Regulations do not require stores to take into account any added ingredients to base tea drinks, such as tapioca pearls, red beans, jellies or toppings, when listing the nutritional content of their beverages, the foundation said.
At one of the stores that was inspected, a Four Seasons tea with tapioca pearls and coconut jelly was said to contain 4g of sugar and 16 calories per 100ml.
However, tests found that the beverage had 11.6g of sugar and 66.8 calories per 100ml.
The problem is serious, because of the high sugar content of many of the beverages sold at bubble tea and fruit tea shops, the foundation said.
A 700ml cup of handmade tea with extras, such as a bubble tea with tapioca pearls and pudding or a green tea with passionfruit syrup, can contain up to 91g of sugar, almost twice the maximum recommended daily intake of less than 50g per day, the foundation said.
The study also found that a handmade drink could have as many as 789.2 calories per 700ml for a red bean milk tea.
That is more than one-third of the recommended daily intake of 2,000 calories for adults, foundation dietitian Yu Hsuan-wen (尤宣文) said.
Based on its findings, the foundation said that stores should be required to display accurate nutritional information.
It also suggested the adoption of a sugar tax, an idea that is gaining traction worldwide, to discourage people from purchasing and consuming unhealthy food.
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