No tea, too much sugar: industrial iced teas have bad surprises in store!

When it’s snack time, there’s nothing better than replacing your glass of water with a delicious cold iced tea. These few tangy and sweet notes are enough to motivate us for the rest of the day. However, although these comforting flavors are at the origin of the craze around this drink, its composition would not be ideal. A nutritionist is sounding the alarm: beware of scams!

Particularly popular during the summer period, iced tea is a must for the season. The problem ? The compositions of industrial drinks would not always be very good for health. Even worse, names would be misleading since for some brands no trace of tea infusion is present.

In effect, a TF1 investigation made it possible to alert on the subject. By analyzing different brands, the journalists realized that labels did not mention infusion but only tea extracts :”1.2 grams per liter of black tea extract for peach flavored Lipton Ice Tea, for example, or 0.12% black tea extract for peach tea Oasis”.

Result ? Nutritionist Karine de la Rouère, interviewed by our colleagues, comes to wonder about the name of this drink so appreciated: “It doesn’t look like iced tea at all, it’s flavored sugar water”. The specialist thus recommends to be vigilant: “To choose a quality product, she recommends to “check that the first ingredient is green or black tea infusion. Otherwise, it’s still sugar water”.

Because yes, another problem is pointed out by the nutritionist: too much sugar content. In a survey from 2021, the consumer association CLCV had already warned consumers about thisexplaining that “Fruit drinks, which are not called juice, iced teas and infusions and flavored waters contain mainly water, sugar, additives and a small amount of juice often made from concentrate” . TF1 recalls, as CLCV also pointed out, that a “classic industrial iced tea glass contains the equivalent of three sugar cubes, compared to six in a soda. Most of the time, those that are less sweet are saturated with additives (flavourings, sweeteners, etc.).

It is therefore essential to check the list of ingredients. The shorter the latter, the better. Moreover, it is important that the first ingredients are indeed tea infusion.

But the superior quality of these products comes at a cost, the price sometimes skyrockets. The best solution is still to make it at home.

We reveal to you best way to make iced tea at home for your sunny days.