Truth in Tea: Separating Tea Myth From Reality By Tomislav Podreka

Truth is a funny word. Depending on the context, it imparts a range of emotions, from comfort to outrage. For the most part we like to hear the truth, or we think we do. In the tea industry, truth is always sought after and then often tempered for convenience. Or sometimes we hear a little tea truth and then exaggerate it to suit our purposes, for better or worse. Think about some of the tea claims we’ve all seen and heard: Tea is the devil’s instrument! Tea has more caffeine than coffee! Caffeine causes cancer! Reduces fertility! Causes birth defects! Makes men sterile! Poisons the mind! Organic farming is a farce! All-natural flavor! Lose weight now!

What spawns these kinds of headlines? Demand and ignorance. The less we know, the more curious we are and the more flexibility there is to tinker with the truth. But it’s a two-way street when it comes to information dissemination.
On the one hand there are companies that deliberately market nebulous products, either because of passionate belief or because they are simply ethically challenged. In the beverage business—particularly in tea and herbal beverages—we are extremely susceptible to these myths and stories. In some cases, the stories are accurate, but too often, they are exaggerated.

On the other hand we have consumers who eagerly buy into what they read on a box, see in a headline or hear on television. So who is responsible for these perceptions? Everyone, including the consumer. It simply comes down to the old adage, “Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law.”

Why should you, a specialty beverage retailer, care about the small truths of everyday business? Do you care if your customers won’t drink black tea because of its supposed caffeine content? They’ll buy a green tea instead, so it evens out, right? Do you care if there is or isn’t caffeine in yerba maté? It sells just fine as the “herbal green tea,” so why should you be concerned if the tag line is misleading? Will you benefit from defying the headlines and disrupting the worlds of your customers if they are perfectly content with what they think they know? If you want to grow your business and gain the support and trust of your clientele, the answer is yes.

The establishment of truth and information dissemination from your business will create an “eye of the storm” scenario. When there is an issue brewing, people will gravitate to your shop for answers. It’s not important to have every answer on the spot, but you should always be willing to seek the truth. Remember, you are paid to be the neighborhood aficionado on premium tea.

So, what should you watch out for? Let’s begin our search for tea truths by examining some of the most common tea misconceptions—those surrounding caffeine. Is caffeine good for us or not? Does it cause cancer? Does it help inhibit cancer? How much caffeine does tea actually contain?

The first thing that might surprise you and your customers is that caffeine levels in tea tend not to differ much from category to category—that is, from white to green to oolong to black. Instead, they vary from region to region. Indian tea, for instance, generally contains more caffeine than most Chinese or Japanese teas. But Japanese gyokuro, because it is shade-grown, has, along with a high chlorophyll count, caffeine levels that exceed black tea from India! So understanding caffeine begins with understanding a lot of other elements, such as altitude, soil conditions and cultivation methods. This is not new information, but it is information that is not convenient from a marketing standpoint, so we continue to hear false claims of caffeine levels associated with specific tea categories.

Often demonized as detrimental to health in some way, caffeine gets a bad rap across the board. But is there any credible evidence to support such claims? In my quest to find independent studies supporting the harmful effects of caffeine, I found rhetoric from competing beverage interests and evidence contradictory to popular assumptions. For instance, a July 1998 report cosponsored by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses, says that “according to leading medical and scientific experts, caffeine consumed in moderation produces no adverse effects.” With regard to pregnancy, the report states that “the weight of scientific research continues to indicate that moderate caffeine consumption does not affect fertility or cause adverse effects in the mother or child.”

And the American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs and the National Cancer Institute both published reports stating that there is no evidence to support an association between caffeine intake and the incidence of fibrocystic breast disease. For that matter, many notable institutions, such as the American Cancer Society and the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council, report that there is no credible evidence connecting caffeine to any type of cancer.

In the late 1980s (after a study that included 45,589 men between the ages of 40 and 75 with varying cardiovascular conditions), Harvard University researchers concluded that caffeine causes “no substantial increase in the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.” And an independent Dutch study by the Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences, Wageningen Agricultural University, and the National Institute for Public Health, The Netherlands, stated that the intake of up to four cups of tea a day helped to significantly reduce the risks of heart disease.

Caffeine often takes a beating from certain companies trying to get a leg up in the market. For example, yerba maté has become known as the herbal green tea that is free of caffeine. Many marketers have used this tag line to cash in on the popularity of green tea and the perceived safety of herbals. First of all, yerba maté is not green tea. It is an herb, and it does not come from the Camellia sinensis plant. Secondly, yerba maté is stimulating. Regardless of whether the stimulant is called mateine or caffeine (an ongoing debate), consumers need to know what to expect from drinking the tea. So, like any good product, sell it, but know it. Your customers will thank you.

The health benefits of tea and herbals are significant factors in the new love affair with tea and tisanes, but what exactly is heathful? Yesterday it was green tea, and for about five minutes it was black tea, and today it’s white tea. When you are bombarded with all of the arguments for and against the health benefits of tea, remember, it all comes from the same plant. In the end—white, green, oolong, or black—it all comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, so logically, how much can it really differ? If you want to comfort yourself, read the many independent studies that support the conclusion that while there are differences, in most cases, the variations are minimal.

So why do we get disparate reports on tea and health? Follow the money. If the economy of the industry is dominant in a certain type of tea, studies will typically hone in on that leaf. Japan, for example, studies green tea and produces an exemplary amount of research to support the health benefits of the tea. India, on the other hand, has offered strong evidence on the benefits of black tea.

As long as you do your homework, using health to sell tea can be successful. It allows you to paint a more user-friendly picture of tea. The less complicated you make tea, the more your customers can enjoy it. Just keep boiling all the claims down to tea and not all the peripheral categories—it will make everyone’s life easier.
The next stop in our discovery mission is your cooler, where you’ll find myriad bottled iced tea products with a plethora of supplements and corresponding health claims. What exactly do these supplements do? I’m amazed by the speed at which the market puts out such products—often without a full understanding of their ramifications. Every week there seems to be a new drink claiming to be a healthful tea beverage containing the latest miracle herb. Be aware that the FDA has issued several warnings about untested herbs that are popular as additives but unproven in the scientific community. For example, in June 2001, the FDA warned the juice company Fresh Samantha about the use of echinacea, possibly the trendiest herbal additive and supplement of 2000/2001.

Kava, another popular ingredient in beverages and supplements, is also being watched. In 2001, the FDA issued a letter to healthcare professionals stating the following: “FDA informs healthcare professionals that products containing herbal extracts of kava have been implicated in Europe in at least 25 cases of serious liver toxicity, including hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver failure. FDA requests the assistance of healthcare professionals in reviewing cases of liver toxicity to determine if any may be related to the use of kava.”

The problem with these herbs and their claims is that there is very little science behind them. And the concerns should not be solely about the truth of the claims, but also what side effects—both health-related and economic—might be produced. I doubt very much that such products would be on the market if there were serious repercussions to be had. But if the expectation of results is too highly played upon to reap a market, ultimately, consumers will develop cynicism toward the claims.

Lastly, we come to organics. Like many organic products, organic tea has often been misunderstood and misinterpreted. I’ll never forget when a prominent New York newspaper printed a story dismissing organic agriculture as a bunch of farmers who couldn’t afford pesticides. The article incited quite a furor around the world, but not a single retraction was printed, leaving the public to make misinformed choices based on what they had read.

Organic farming is not cheap, and it’s not easy. But while it is a principle of farming that I respect, it is also a label I have become increasingly cautious about. Unfortunately, some tea estates have begun to let an organic seal overshadow quality. Assuming that organic tea is a better tea simply because it is organic is a big mistake. Organic or not, all tea estates must be held accountable by the quality of their cups, not their ability to ride the surf of faddism. But how can you distinguish the good from the bad? Always search for quality first, and do your research to find reputable teas that are certified by a well-known third-party agency. Thankfully, there are many wonderful organic teas available.

By sifting through myth and reality, you become a more empowered tea retailer. The ability to recognize the truth and properly guide your customers through the confusing channels of information will greatly enhance their trust in your establishment. So, be the consumer’s friend, seek the truth and take all claims with a well-deserved pinch of salt.