Pesticides: Are Chinese and Indian teas safe to drink?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 3:31 pm
There is something that has been bothering me about Chinese, and to lesser extent Indian, teas for a while and I would be curious to hear opinions and thoughts.
First some context though. I grew up in a 3rd world country. When I was a child, I saw this old farmer applying something to berries. When I came closer, I saw that she was generously applying a very illegal insecticide and when I inquired about this, she brushed it off and explained the berries are for sale anyway. This memory has stuck with me for the rest of life. Later on it was complimented by many other experiences that basically can be summed up with “for the right price, you can pass any safety check” (in fact in places like that, you are expected to pass them with bribes rather than compliance).
Anyway, I could go on about this for a while but you can probably see where this is going. I keep thinking about this every time I brew tea from China or India and I don’t know whether it’s a valid concern, or am I being paranoid; and more importantly - if something can be done about it?
Like, sure, there are reputable tea sources out there but it’s not like they babysit and watch farmers every minute. Or is contaminated tea usually obviously off? Or maybe it’s an easy crop and there is no reason to shower it in poisons? Are some regions or farms known to be better? Is there anything to ease my mind? I’ve been actively thinking about calling it a day and switching to teas from Taiwan - they seem to be much better based on corruption index but frankly I am not really that familiar with how things are in Taiwan either.
First some context though. I grew up in a 3rd world country. When I was a child, I saw this old farmer applying something to berries. When I came closer, I saw that she was generously applying a very illegal insecticide and when I inquired about this, she brushed it off and explained the berries are for sale anyway. This memory has stuck with me for the rest of life. Later on it was complimented by many other experiences that basically can be summed up with “for the right price, you can pass any safety check” (in fact in places like that, you are expected to pass them with bribes rather than compliance).
Anyway, I could go on about this for a while but you can probably see where this is going. I keep thinking about this every time I brew tea from China or India and I don’t know whether it’s a valid concern, or am I being paranoid; and more importantly - if something can be done about it?
Like, sure, there are reputable tea sources out there but it’s not like they babysit and watch farmers every minute. Or is contaminated tea usually obviously off? Or maybe it’s an easy crop and there is no reason to shower it in poisons? Are some regions or farms known to be better? Is there anything to ease my mind? I’ve been actively thinking about calling it a day and switching to teas from Taiwan - they seem to be much better based on corruption index but frankly I am not really that familiar with how things are in Taiwan either.