Peter Wu :          I am glad that Professor Cheung brought up the benefits of drinking tea. I love drinking tea, particularly the Chinese varieties – their tastes, their odd, quaint and almost bizarre names, their health benefits, their history behind them and how they are picked and made.

But like you said, I am very dubious about how they are grown, picked and processed given the unscrupulous manner of dodgy food manufacturing with which Chinese made foods are tarnished.

Stories abound of the indiscriminate application of insecticides on the tea plantations, of chemicals used in their fermentation, unhygienic practices and the use of colourings and favourings to enhance their tastes and favours.

So on the one hand I am led to believe that tea drinking promotes good health, on the other I am wondering if I am being slowly poisoned and drink myself to an early grave.

It’s for this reason that I don’t drink Chinese tea as often as I would like, much to my regret. I particularly loathe drinking those teas at any Chinese restaurant.

Many a times, I nearly spit it out. On one occasion, I had the presence of mind to lift the lid of the tea pot to see what was in it, as it tasted so bland and looked so murky. Guess what I saw? Several totally desiccated baby cockroaches? The tea leaves? They looked like dead and shredded leaves swept up from the floor of a factory.

Over the years, I’ve brought and been given many exquisitely packaged tea containers from China and they are a joy to behold. Some were hand-made in the shape of Lychee flower and flowers. But the thought that some of these teas have been tainted with chemicals lingers.

What do I do? Chuck out the first brew and drink only the second or third? Or should I wash the tea in dish-washing detergent first before I drink it? Or should I write to the manufacturer and ask for a guarantee? Or should I place my fate in the hands of God and hope like hell nothing will come of drinking dodgy Chinese tea? Or should I only drink non-Chinese tea?

Peter Cheung :    I will just drink less tea, once every 1 or 2 weeks. Our friends in HK are very vigilant about food safety, esp eating out. we could learn a lot from them. Tea farming should be monitored carefully to make sure the chemical contamination is under control. I may try organic tea grown in the US.

Bob Choi :         Japan makes excellent green tea... with minimum processing and adulteration... but radiactive residues could be a factor still.

KT Lai :             My friend working in HK government responsible for monitoring the radiation in HK warns us not to go to Japan.

Mak K :             The whole Japan? Or just some parts of the country?

KT Lai:              Better the whole country!

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Original Article : 茶葉與『癌症』的故事