Chinese milk powder crisis.... think twice about cheap cakes

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Sep 23rd, '08, 22:52
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Chinese milk powder crisis.... think twice about cheap cakes

by teakid » Sep 23rd, '08, 22:52

Since the recent milk powder crisis in China, I'm a little concerned about some of the more affordable ($10-$20) young tea cakes that are enjoyable to drink now, with the worry that some chemicals may be involved in the processing and potentially hazardous to our health. I know some believe that drinking young puerh alone in the long run is not good for the liver, spleen or what not, adding chemicals just make things worse. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think I'm going to take it easy on the pu for a while until the cloud clears.

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Sep 23rd, '08, 23:20
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Re: Chinese milk powder crisis.... think twice about cheap c

by shogun89 » Sep 23rd, '08, 23:20

teakid wrote:Since the recent milk powder crisis in China, I'm a little concerned about some of the more affordable ($10-$20) young tea cakes that are enjoyable to drink now, with the worry that some chemicals may be involved in the processing and potentially hazardous to our health. I know some believe that drinking young puerh alone in the long run is not good for the liver, spleen or what not, adding chemicals just make things worse. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think I'm going to take it easy on the pu for a while until the cloud clears.
HHmmmmm, interesting. I will wait for more replies until I make further comment. I also didnt know that young is "bad" for ones health??????

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Sep 23rd, '08, 23:31
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by Space Samurai » Sep 23rd, '08, 23:31

While I think it behooves us all do be aware of where our products come from, I'm not sure what milk has to do with pu.

On this subject, do be careful with products from China that contain milk/milk powder. I've already seen recalls on a few products like the Mr. Brown Coffee drinks.

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Sep 24th, '08, 00:11
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by Wesli » Sep 24th, '08, 00:11

Space Samurai wrote:While I think it behooves us all do be aware of where our products come from, I'm not sure what milk has to do with pu.
Nothing to do with mine!


Shog, this idea is actually tossed around a lot. I've heard from many people that they think young sheng is harsh on their health. They talk about stomach upsets and the like. I've also heard that in traditional Chinese medicine, young sheng is bad for one of the following types of people: Warm-Wet or Cold-Dry. It's come up in quite a few threads on here, and on the Puerh livejournal community. Research time for you, my friend. :)

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Sep 24th, '08, 00:27
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by wyardley » Sep 24th, '08, 00:27

Wesli wrote:Shog, this idea is actually tossed around a lot. I've heard from many people that they think young sheng is harsh on their health. They talk about stomach upsets and the like. I've also heard that in traditional Chinese medicine, young sheng is bad for one of the following types of people: Warm-Wet or Cold-Dry. It's come up in quite a few threads on here, and on the Puerh livejournal community. Research time for you, my friend. :)
For me, it's much simpler... drinking much young sheng not only is not pleasing to my taste buds, but tends to hurt my stomach; more so than drinking other types of tea. Could be the caffeine; could be the qi; could be adulterants in the tea.. I don't really care, but the end result is that I don't like drinking a lot of young, or even adolescent, sheng.

Of course, there are plenty of people who drink it all the time, or have no problems with it. I don't know if it's because they're a different type, or what.

I think your body will (usually) let you know if you're doing something that doesn't agree with it.

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Sep 24th, '08, 00:28
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by silverneedles » Sep 24th, '08, 00:28

buying something expensive wont guarantee anything either
especially from where they have a well known history of MASS production of FAKE anything.

only way is to have a trustworthy vendor that reaaaaaaly knows what he's got.

yeah i've never had any stomach or health issues drinking any tea, except for wasting money and time.

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Sep 24th, '08, 00:31
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by wyardley » Sep 24th, '08, 00:31

I don't really follow your logic. I could see tea having pesticides, or tea from regions outside of Yunnan, but I'm not too worried about my tea getting cut with melamine. Also, just because a tea is expensive doesn't mean that it *doesn't* have harmful adulterants.

However, if anyone wants to stop drinking any of their existing teas, I'll be happy to PM you my postal mail address; send all those dangerous cakes this way. I'll even pick up the tab for postage.

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by teakid » Sep 24th, '08, 00:46

Yes, stomach upsets for sure. After drinking puerh every day with me for more than a year, my girlfriend has stopped because her stomach can't handle it anymore. I'm still fine with young shengs, but I'm going to cut down from drinking sheng 7 days a week to maybe 3 times a week.

I wouldn't doubt other puerh drinkers out there had experienced stomach upsets from drinking too much young shengs in the past as well. And yes, I'm definitely staying away from dairy related tea products from China whether it is Yak butter puerh tea, Hong Kong style milk tea, etc.

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Sep 24th, '08, 01:34
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by MarshalN » Sep 24th, '08, 01:34

Actually, if anything, I'd worry about your cooked puerh way more than your raw puerh.

There isn't a whole lot they can do to raw puerh (young ones, that is) that won't raise suspicion. There are, however, tonnes of things one can do to cooked puerh that will avoid detection.

And yeah, melamine is really not something you should be worrying about. There's absolutely no reason why anybody will put that anywhere near tea -- it adds cost and doesn't add value. The reason they used melamine in the milk powder is because they could dilute it with water and still come out with the same amount of protein given the crude test.

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Sep 24th, '08, 08:53
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by tony shlongini » Sep 24th, '08, 08:53

Why would young sheng be bad for you? I think that's ridiculous. I could see an older sheng where the aging process has gone awry, or a nastily fermented shu, but young sheng? It's basically green tea. Why no concern from the green tea camp?

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Sep 24th, '08, 10:11
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by battra » Sep 24th, '08, 10:11

MarshalN wrote:Actually, if anything, I'd worry about your cooked puerh way more than your raw puerh.
Well, should we worry about ripe Pu-erh?

Are there any mysterious chemicals added to shu? Is it safe to get shu from factories with a good reputation? You've got me worried now! :shock:

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Sep 24th, '08, 11:40
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by hop_goblin » Sep 24th, '08, 11:40

tony shlongini wrote:Why would young sheng be bad for you? I think that's ridiculous. I could see an older sheng where the aging process has gone awry, or a nastily fermented shu, but young sheng? It's basically green tea. Why no concern from the green tea camp?
It has to do with the belief in Chinese Medicine - Sheng is said to be "cold" and therefore can give you upset stomachs and the Green apple splatters. Yunnan minorities, for this reason will heat young sheng in tins or paper before brewing. I don't think there is a need to worry. If you drink it sporatically, then there should be no concern. But you are indeed correct, it is just green tea. However, the soil that it grows in is very different from a green tea plantation.

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Sep 24th, '08, 12:02
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by puerhking » Sep 24th, '08, 12:02

No pu has ever upset my stomach be it sheng or shu. Green tea has done so on an empty stomach. I think we have to watch out for the placebo effect when we read certain negative things.

My only real concern about puerh is if it came from a plantation that is using pesticides. It is my understanding that the pesticides were developed for fruits and vegetables, which are rinsed off before eating. Tea on the other hand may hold on to more of it after a quick rinse.

I heard that people were told to drink less tea in Taiwan because the use of pesticides was becoming so pervasive. I dont know if this is still the case.

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Sep 24th, '08, 12:31
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by Dizzwave » Sep 24th, '08, 12:31

hop_goblin wrote:Green apple splatters
LOL! :lol: That's some of the best TCM terminology I've ever heard.

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Sep 24th, '08, 14:58
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by shogun89 » Sep 24th, '08, 14:58

Here is my belief:
Everything in moderation will not harm you, with the exception of drugs and stuff. Take alcohol for example, If you drink everyday your body will not be happy, same with soda or something else. So drink up! and dont be scared! Just minimize to like a few days a week instead of everyday.

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