Study: Bubble Tea Has An Alarmingly High Sugar Content

It’s like every place we go, we will bump into at least one bubble tea shop. We can’t blame them, as the rise of bubble tea shops are a move to cater to our ever-increasing demand.

Yes, we love our bubble tea. So much, in fact, it's ruining our health as experts have opined that bubble tea could possibly be one of the worst things we could feed our body with due to its alarmingly high sugar content.

According to a report by Free Malaysia Today, quoting the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy Studies, studies conducted on the drink had shown alarming results with implications on the spread of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Its CEO, Azrul Mohd Khalib, told the news portal that a medium-sized cup of bubble tea has as many calories as a slice of cheesecake and twice the amount of sugar as a can of soft drink.

“The long-term potential for harm to people who drink a lot of bubble tea is high.

“A serving of brown sugar milk tea with pearls has been found to have 18.5 teaspoons of sugar. Wintermelon tea has 16 teaspoons. Even plain milk tea with pearls has eight. And all this is before the toppings are added," he was quoted as saying.

The daily recommended sugar intake for adults is eight to 11 teaspoons, while for children and teenagers, it is just five teaspoons, Azrul said.

“With bubble tea, you are likely to consume your daily intake of sugar in a single sitting," he was further quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr N Ganabaskaran told the news portal that Malaysians have to practice a little caution when it comes to consuming sugar as we have the highest diabetes and obesity rates in Asia.

“Malaysians are known to have a sweet tooth. So we definitely need to worry about this growing trend.”

These concerns are echoed by Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye, who has urged vendors to reduce the sugar content as much as possible.