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Trendy soft drink raises concern over hygiene

Trendy soft drink raises concern over hygiene

Thursday, April 11, 2013, 10:07 GMT+7

Lovers of lemon tea, a trendy soft drink among local youths, may be shocked to learn that their favorite beverage can be made without using a single slice of lime.

Spending a humid Saigon night sitting on small plastic chairs at roadside stores across the city with a cup of lemon tea and chatting has become a new hobby for local youths over the last few months.

While the drink is traditionally made by mixing lemon, sugar, honey, and tea, some dishonest vendors only use chemicals and artificial coloring and flavoring to produce lemon-like tea and reap whopping profits.

500 liters of tea from 100 grams of chemicals

A Tuoi Tre undercover journalist disguised as a lemon tea vendor followed Thang, who runs such a roadside store on Luy Ban Bich Street, to Kim Bien market, the city’s chemicals hub based in District 5.

The three most basic ingredients to make lemon tea without using the real fruit include green tea and lemon flavoring, and tea coloring, Thang said, ensuring that the three “are enough to make delicious lemon tea.”

The lemon flavoring costs only VND30,000 per 100 milliliters, while the substance which adds the tea-like flavor fetches VND40,000 per 100ml, traders said.

“These are all food additives so you can feel free to use them,” ensured a small vender, adding a number of people have recently bought these substances to make lemon tea.

Meanwhile, the coloring to make the liquid yellow like real lemon tea is also available at VND20,000 per 100g. All of the chemicals are carelessly stored in cartons without adequate information about expiry dates or origins.

After obtaining all necessary ingredients, Thang put some coloring into a glass of water, and mixed it with a drip of lemon and tea flavorings.

All is enough to turn the water into an eye-catching and mouthwatering cup of lemon tea.

“This is only a quick illustration,” Thang said.

“In fact, you can make as much as 500 liters of tea with only 100g of coloring and flavorings,” he revealed.

“You can also mix the tea with sugar depending on your customers’ taste, or put some slices of lemon into the cups to win their trust.”

According to Associate Professor and Doctor Pham Thanh Quan, it remains to be seen whether such ingredients are allowed for use in food making, given their dubious origins and manufacturers.

“These chemicals pose disease threats to consumers, and can cause intestinal illnesses,” warned Quan, who teaches chemical technology at the HCMC University of Technology.

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