Authorities say bubble tea pearls safe for consumption

SINGAPORE: A German study has warned that tapioca pearls found in bubble tea may contain cancer-causing chemicals.

However, authorities said recent checks on pearls in Singapore showed they are safe for consumption.

The study claims the sweet, chewy pearls contain toxic chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).

Chong Kok-Yoong, food scientist at TUV SUD PSB, said: "They are used... to make plastic, floor polish, as well as ballast for florescent lights. Specifically, they can cause cancer and certain immune system malfunction(s), or cause our hormonal system to go haywire."

It is not the first time bubble tea has come under fire for food safety.

Just last year, Singapore suspended a Taiwanese brand of fruit juice concentrates used in bubble tea, for containing the industrial chemical DEHP.

But this time, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said the level of PCBs detected in its recent tests on tapioca pearls here are "well within international food safety limits".

AVA said products that fail its safety standards are not allowed for sale in the market.

For some local chains, business has not been affected.

Chua Keem Long, CEO of Each-A-Cup, said: "AVA called me up and asked me for pearls for testing. I brought them down myself and it's been five or six weeks already. Nothing happened so I think it should be fine."

Most consumers Channel NewsAsia spoke with said they have not heard of the latest food safety concerns.

"I would continue drinking it because I'm not afraid of this giving me cancer... it's just milk," said one student.

"Honestly, I don't think it'll affect me because everyone dies anyway, so why not enjoy while you can," said another.

Experts said Singapore has a stringent food monitoring system, but there can be loopholes.

Mr Chong said: "There're just so many of these foods imported, I think we as consumers, besides relying on the authorities to do all the checks, should exercise some caution."

Tapioca pearls in bubble tea contain carcinogens: Study

German health authorities and researchers have come out swinging recently against the Taiwanese drink bubble tea, warning that the popular dessert beverage presents a choking hazard to children and may contain cancer-causing chemicals.

The warnings, released separately, come as Europe, and Germany in particular, begin to catch on to the bubble tea trend which has already swept major urban centers in North America to become a popular dessert beverage.

After analysing the tapioca balls which make up the 'bubbles' in the drink, researchers from the University Hospital Aachen, for instance, found that the pearls contained polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs such as styrene, acetophenone, and brominated substances, chemicals that shouldn't be in food at all, researchers told German paper The Local.

Samples were taken from an unnamed chain in Mönchengladbach, in northwest Germany and the tapioca balls were made in Taiwan.

The study comes on the heels of a public health warning from the country's German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment earlier this month, which warned that the tapioca balls also present a choking risk to children.

"Especially with children aged up to four years, there is a risk of foreign objects accidentally entering the lungs," said Dr. Andreas Hensel in a statement. "And that is precisely what can happen when the bubbles are sucked up through a straw."

Meanwhile, the institute says no bubble tea-related accidents have yet been reported.