ÖKO-Test examined 50 herbal tea mixtures in more detail. The frightening result: In some types of tea, questionable plant toxins are found in increased concentrations – organic tea is also affected. Here we show you which brands you should leave on the shelf and which you can buy without hesitation.
ÖKO-TEST: herbal tea blends in the test
Around 129 million cups of tea are drunk every day in Germany. Herbal tea in particular has an excellent reputation: It is generally considered healthy, is low in calories and can provide relief for various diseases such as coughs or intestinal problems. But is herbal tea really that healthy? According to the ÖKO-TEST magazine, this cannot be answered in general, it all depends on the right product.
However, in the current test of 50 non-flavoured herbal tea mixtures from organic and conventional cultivation (loose goods and tea bags), the consumer portal ÖKO-TEST found that plant toxins and even residues of a pesticide that has since been banned can be detected in some teas. Including organic tea blends.
Among the test winners are not only branded products from Tea Gschwendner or Alnatura, but also discounter products from Lidl and Aldi Süd, as well as the drugstore dm.
Read the chargeable test of the current ÖKO-TEST issue
Organic herbal tea: These are the test winners
A total of 31 organic products were scrutinized. The herbal tea blends usually consist of three ingredients, such as peppermint, lemongrass and lemon balm. Among the 21 test winners are numerous types of tea from well-known brands and discounters. These include:
- Alnatura herbal tea, 20 bags
- Naturgut organic herbal tea, 20 bags (Penny)
- dm organic herbal tea 20 bags
- Pukka Relax organic herbal tea20 bags
- Gut Bio herb basket herbal tea, 25 bags (Aldi Süd)
- Rewe organic herbal tea20 bags
- Sonnentor Glücks Tee Organic herbal tea, loose tea
- Teapot Organics Sleep & Dream, 20 bags
- Yogi Tea joie de vivre, 17 bags
At the Lucky tea organic from Sonnentor and at Teapot Organics Sleep & Dream ÖKO-TEST has nothing to complain about. Traces of pesticides or traces of the plant toxin PA (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) or (tropane alkaloids) are found in the other herbal teas, but these are not classified as critical. This did not affect the overall rating. Both of these toxins occur naturally in weeds, such as ragwort or henbane. Weeds can be accidentally picked during the harvest and cannot be removed from the harvest afterwards.
Organic herbal tea in the test: Five products fail
The situation is quite different for the losers in organic herbal teas: depending on the product, increased levels of the plant toxin PA were found in addition to the banned insecticide chlorpyrifos. Equal five organic products therefore receive the Grade “insufficient”. These include the organic sun organic herbs from Norma, Edeka herbal tea organic, Gepa herbal tea mixture, Lord Nelson organic nine herbs from Lidl and the Teehandelskontor Bremen herbal tea organic Blanker Hans.
Conventional herbal tea: ÖKO-Test recommends five products
The raw materials for the other 19 herbal teas tested come from conventional cultivation. The test winners also have the upper hand here. Five products are rated “Very Good” and another four are rated “Good”. The following herbal teas were among the winners:
- Captains Tea 9 Herb Tea, 25 Bags (Net)
- Lord Nelson Herbs Pure, 25 bags (Lidl)
- Mivolis 49 herbal tea, loose tea (dm)
- Tea Gschwendner Gourmet Herbal Tea No. 1235, loose tea
- Westcliff fennel anise caraway, 25 bags (Aldi Süd)
Here, too, there are traces of pesticides or a low level of plant toxins, but these did not affect the good test result.
Conventional herbal tea: Two products are not recommended
However, two of the 19 herbal tea mixtures examined were not convincing. As with the organic teas, the banned insecticide chlorpyrifos and an excessively high proportion of the plant toxin PA were found in the Goldmännchen tea 9 herbs and Müllers Tee Stube herbs melody. For this reason, the two types of tea received the grade “inadequate”.
Read the chargeable test of the current ÖKO-TEST issue
That is why herbal tea should always be brewed with boiling water
In order for you to get a safely prepared food, it is important to brew every herbal tea with boiling water (100 degrees). In this way, possible germs are killed. Since the raw materials for herbal tea mixtures largely come from wild collections or small cultures and can only be harvested and dried carefully, they can also show increased microorganisms. Despite careful processing, unwanted germs cannot be avoided in natural products in exceptional cases.
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This article first appeared at FIT FOR FUN