Know what´s inside:

Analyses for Tea, Herbal Tea, Fruit Tea & Cold Brew Tea

The relevance of tea analysis

Every year, more than 25 million tons of tea are produced worldwide. Tea is therefore not only one of the most important luxury foods worldwide, but can also be considered a staple food.

Testing the safety and quality of these products is therefore of paramount importance in ensuring that consumers can enjoy tea.

The analysis of tea poses a great challenge because the range of raw materials that can be tested is huge. Practically any plant product, whether herbs, spices, fruits or vegetables, can be used in tea blends. There is no single method for analyzing tea; individual sensory, optical and analytical checks must be carried out for each product.

Tea analysis is quality assurance

Tea analytics at GBA Group encompasses a variety of test methods used to assess the marketability and safety of these products. The methods range from simple sensory testing to complex chemical and microbiological analyses.

Tea and the raw materials for herbal and fruit teas come from all regions of the world. As diverse as the products and their origins are, as diverse are the requirements that are placed on analysis and assessment.

Testing for pesticides, the use of which can vary greatly from country to country, plays a major role. However, contamination, for example by mycotoxins, pyrrolizidine and tropane alkaloids and perchlorate, must also be consistently monitored to ensure the safety and marketability of these goods.

In addition, tea analysis also plays an important role in confirming the authenticity of tea and detecting counterfeit products. Known as food fraud, this is how manufacturers attempt to gain a financial advantage.

It happens that low-quality tea is labeled and sold as a high-quality product. Another possibility is that expensive teas are mixed with inexpensive tea and also the modification of tea by artificial flavors, dyes or other additives is possible.

This procedure not only deceives the end consumer, but may also pose health risks if the additives used are harmful.

Analytics of Cold Brew Tea

Cold Brew, a term long familiar to coffee lovers, has found its way into the world of tea. Cold Brew tea is not a newfangled beverage, but a traditional method of tea preparation, in which the tea is prepared with cold water rather than hot. This creates a completely new, intense flavor development.

The special preparation also results in special requirements for the quality assurance of this product group. Teas that are prepared hot, i.e. with bubbling hot water, are considered safe from a microbiological point of view. In the case of cold brew teas, on the other hand, intensive testing must ensure that no harmful microorganisms are present in the product.

In this context, GBA Group answers questions on the range and frequency of testing and carries out the necessary analyses.

Our analyses for tea and tea products at a glance (selection)

Pesticides and contaminants

Pesticide multi-method with more than 650 substances
Nicotine
Matrine/oxymatrine
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids/ tropane alkaloids
Perchlorate/chlorate
Mycotoxins

Ingredients

Teein / caffeine content
Essential oil
Water extract
Acid insoluble ash
Minerals and trace elements
Nutritional values
Allergens (e.g. gluten, lactose, nuts, sulfur dioxide)
Microbiological analyses (e.g. total plate count, yeasts/fungi, E. coli, salmonella)

Heavy metals

Lead
Aluminum
Cadmium
Mercury
Arsenic

Biological contaminants

Bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli, Salmonella)
Molds
Yeasts

Other parameters

Polyphenols (such as tannins and catechins)
Flavonoids
Total tannin content

Your reliable partner for tea analysis

The GBA Group provides a team of experts who intensively deal with the constantly changing requirements in the tea and coffee sector on a daily basis and have access to both local and international networks.

Furthermore, drawing upon long-term experience, our experts can support our customers with all of their questions concerning planning, sampling, and analysis, as well as provide detailed legal assessments and consulting.