Lipton Tea Produced In China Removed From Shelves - High Levels Of Rare Earth Contaminants - FT

[hatrack]

A batch of Lipton tea produced and sold in China has been removed from the shelves after the country’s food safety watchdog found it contained excessive levels of toxic rare earths.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer group Unilever, which sells the aptly named “Iron Buddha” oolong tea under its Lipton label, said in a statement that the rare earth metals had come from the soil where the tea was grown and could not have been added in the production process.

The finding is the latest in a seemingly endless string of consumer safety scandals that continue to emerge in China, despite years of pledges from the government to clean up the country’s food supply.

The Lipton tea was one of 19 samples that failed government tests out of a total of 58 brands of oolong tea that were assessed.

EDIT

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/378f686e-0c55-11e1-8ac6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1dVdRlsGZ

[snagglepuss]

1. I have often wondered whether Lipton or other brands of tea sold in NA

come from China. It'd be interesting to know how tea companies keep track of their supply sources.

[PoliticAverse]

2. This is why I only buy Arsenic Buddha brand. n/t

[MineralMan]

3. There's a tea grower in Charleston, SC.

http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/

They produce tea grown right there, and you can order online. Interesting. Made in USA tea. It's owned by Bigelow.

[enough]

7. Their loose tea is $9.95 per 1.6 oz, or just under $100 per pound.

Glad to see they're growing in the US, and it looks like a lovely place. But $100/pound is out of my range. Been buying Lipton's loose tea the the grocery store for years at about $6 to $7 per pound as our everyday tea But lately I have been wondering about where it comes from. I guess some research is in order.

[HopeHoops]

4. I thought China was cutting back on rare earth element exports.

:shrug:

[jberryhill]

10. Seriously, it's probably of more value than the tea!

[dkf]

5. Yet they only reported on Lipton and not any other brands.

"High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/378f686e-0c55-11e1-8ac6-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1dVlr9QQh

The Lipton tea was one of 19 samples that failed government tests out of a total of 58 brands of oolong tea that were assessed.
Domestic Chinese companies produced all of the other teas that failed and more than half of them were found to have higher concentrations of rare earths than Unilever’s tea – but Chinese state media reports on the tests focused almost exclusively on the Lipton case."

[FreakinDJ]

6. China - who would da thunk it

[louis-t]

8. China has a "food safety watchdog"?

Who knew? :shrug:

[XemaSab]

11. It's the department of Food Safety, Worker Protection, Pollution Control, Human Rights,

and Endangered Species Protection, also known as the PR department. :banghead:

[MisterP]

9. heavy metals + organic matter = pack it into fireworks and launch 'em