'Sugar-free' Teas Can Be Full Of Sugar: Watchdog

Consumer and health officials warned on Thursday that some made to order beverages from bubble tea shops that are described as having no sugar added or even sugar-free can actually be laden with the stuff.

They also advised people to cut down on the amount of tea drinks they consume in general, after finding the sugar content in some exceeds daily limits recommended by the World Health Organisation.

The Consumer Council said it recently tested around 120 made to order tea products and found that five had an excessive sugar content. It said any tapioca balls added would also boost both the sugar content of the drink and the amount of calories it contained.

The watchdog was joined at a press conference by Dr Henry Ng from the Centre for Food Safety who said people should also be aware that there can actually be significant amounts of sugar in drinks they would be forgiven for thinking contained very little or none at all.

"For drinks in which they claim there is no added sugar, there are still other ingredients that cause a sugar content in the drinks. These include honey, and also syrup with fruit flavours, and also milk and the pearls in the pearl tapioca milk tea," Ng said.

He said shops should review their recipes and take steps to make sure their drinks are consistent.

"Those tea-based beverages made in shops may be subject to individual practices and also the amount of equipment. So one of the [pieces of] advice that we give to the trade is that they should adhere to general manufacturing practices to produce food with a low-sugar content."

Ng said there should also be guidelines for employees to follow, to ensure the stable quality of beverages.