Excessive pesticide residue found in tea products

[edkrueger]

You do realize that we are talking about really, really, really small amounts?

[pgho]

You can read the Taiwan Government National Palace Museum report regarding contaminated oolong that they were selling; it clearly stated that the museum jointly developed the teas with its suppliers and that there were certificates that indicated that the products had no pesticide residues. Yet when tested by the press, pesticides were found. So, to believe or not to believe even the certifications.

http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration ... 1&pageno=6

[britt]

For Chinese teas, I also use Hou De but purchase mainland Chinese greens from Jing as well.

Are there any evidences that the teas sold by Hou De and Jing are less infected by pesticides than others?

Actually not that I know of. I made a judgment based on various things and I hope my judgment is good.

I believe that Guang from Hou De is a chemical engineer. I think I read that somewhere. This would certainly give him an advantage. From reading his blog, I noticed that he is very careful about choosing all the teas he sells. So my judgment is that he cares about the health and safety of his customers and has the technical ability to make good on this.

Jing is another story. I initially never purchased tea from them, only Yixings. I rarely even tried the samples included with my orders, but usually gave them away. The few sample I tried were not very impressive. Hou De sometimes carries Taiwanese green tea, but as far as I know he never carries mainland Chinese greens. Early this year I was accidently charged by JTS for shipping on an item whose price included shipping charges. Rather than have them issue a refund for $10, I decided to try a sample of Long Jing. I was very happy with the sample so decided to order 100 grams. When the spring 2010 greens came out, I tried Anji Bai Cha, more LJ, and a yellow tea. When the Tai Ping was finally released, I ordered that as well. Much to my surprise, I was extremely pleased with all of these. I still purchase all my other Chinese teas, such as Wuyi and Dan Cong, from Hou De.

Now there's a possible problem I have with the JTS teas. Two days ago I received my latest order from them. This time I made an exception and ordered some Keemun gift grade red tea as well as 100 grams of green (Mao Feng). The Keemun is fantastic, but the two times I've tried the Mao Feng I've felt a bit of sickness in the stomach, making me wonder if my original assessment of JTS was correct (trusting them, but not necessarily their judgment on which teas they sell). Has anyone else had this problem with JTS teas, especially the 2010 Mao Feng?

As far as Hou De goes, I have never had this issue with anything I've purchased from them, which is why they're my vendor of choice for all Taiwanese and Chinese teas. I only wish Guang would carry some mainland Chinese greens. Then again, maybe there's a reason he doesn't.

[britt]

For Chinese teas, I also use Hou De but purchase mainland Chinese greens from Jing as well.

Are there any evidences that the teas sold by Hou De and Jing are less infected by pesticides than others?

The only evidence would be testing. I would think if neither vendor mentions that is organically grown but no certificate, then you will be drinking teas grown with pesticides. This is why I buy Taiwan teas from Teafromtaiwan. If you ask them, which teas are grown organically, they will tell you, but, none have certificates. I'd much rather take my chances with this kind of info than with none at all.

On several occasions, either from his blog or the Art of Tea magazine, Guang of Hou De has gone into some amount of detail on how he chooses his teas. He thinks of things I wouldn't, like the "hairs" that are common on the leaves of white tea are great at attracting and holding residues from pesticides. When he started carrying Wuyi, he mentioned that the entire district is supposed to be pollution free, but he chose a tea farm in the center because it is even more isolated from pollution. These are the reasons I use Hou De. I am not knowlegable about organic farming, pollution, etc. so I try to find vendors who are and let them do most of the work for me.

[Tead Off]

For Chinese teas, I also use Hou De but purchase mainland Chinese greens from Jing as well.

Are there any evidences that the teas sold by Hou De and Jing are less infected by pesticides than others?

The only evidence would be testing. I would think if neither vendor mentions that is organically grown but no certificate, then you will be drinking teas grown with pesticides. This is why I buy Taiwan teas from Teafromtaiwan. If you ask them, which teas are grown organically, they will tell you, but, none have certificates. I'd much rather take my chances with this kind of info than with none at all.

On several occasions, either from his blog or the Art of Tea magazine, Guang of Hou De has gone into some amount of detail on how he chooses his teas. He thinks of things I wouldn't, like the "hairs" that are common on the leaves of white tea are great at attracting and holding residues from pesticides. When he started carrying Wuyi, he mentioned that the entire district is supposed to be pollution free, but he chose a tea farm in the center because it is even more isolated from pollution. These are the reasons I use Hou De. I am not knowlegable about organic farming, pollution, etc. so I try to find vendors who are and let them do most of the work for me.

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes 'marketing' work. I know you and I want to believe this kind of thing but when people tell me that Wuyi farmers tell them that spraying goes on in spite of it being illegal in the 'preserved' area then someone who is there to buy tea for a short period of time is probably not going to know these things. This is exactly the problem we are talking about. You can't believe any of these people and assume that it is the truth. There is so much nonsense surrounding tea from the beliefs in its 'heavenly' powers to the purity of the growers. Testing is the only way to know and it has to be 3rd party testing, not only from the country of origin. This is not a put down of Houde. I believe he is a serious tea person but he also has a business to run.

[Tead Off]

You can read the Taiwan Government National Palace Museum report regarding contaminated oolong that they were selling; it clearly stated that the museum jointly developed the teas with its suppliers and that there were certificates that indicated that the products had no pesticide residues. Yet when tested by the press, pesticides were found. So, to believe or not to believe even the certifications.

http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration ... 1&pageno=6

This is exactly my point when I say 3rd party testing outside the country of origin is needed to verify claims of organic production.

[pgho]

On further reading of the issue with Palace Museum oolong, apparently the magazine found all the 5 teas to be contaminated. The Taipei Government Health retested and claimed only one is contaminated with the following statement :-

"Regarding the Taipei City Government Department of Health's finding that one "Oolong Tea" product sold by the National Palace Museum contains pesticide residues (Flufenoxuron: 0.12ppm; Ethion: 0.16ppm), the National Palace Museum responded on November 16 that it would immediately terminate its contract with "iTea International Co., Ltd", return the products currently being sold at the Museum, and claim for damages in accordance with provisions of the contract."

Guess someone has to protect the country prime product's reputation.

Another disturbing info is, the magazine claimed that one of the teas had 13 types of pesticide residues. The government reported 2 only. On another thread in TC, someone posted the results of tests done in Australia - observed most of the contaminated tea from China/Taiwan/Japan had a cocktail of pesticide residues in them. eg "Cypermethrin; fenvalerate; dicofol; endosulfan sulphate; phosalone; Ethion; cypermethrin; bifenthrin; permethrin; Isoxathion; chlorpyrifos; fenitrothion; bifenthrin; prothiophos"

Are farmers using a cocktail of pesticide to ensure any one is below its limits? Can't imagine one cup of tea could have that many types of pesticides in it. Guess many farmers are exploiting this loophole.

http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/administration ... 2&pageno=6
http://www.maduratea.com.au/media/upload/f113321.pdf