The Malaysian Insight

THE excessively high sugar content in pearl bubble tea is not putting fans off their favourite drink.

They told The Malaysian Insight they were aware of the health risks of consuming too much sugar, saying they drank the beverage in moderation only.

“We know that the sugar content of bubble tea is more than that of carbonated drinks but we don’t overdo drinking bubble tea. Once a week, that’s all,” said Adibah Ahmad, 26, who works in Subang Jaya.

Amalina Roshdi, 27, said she, too, was aware of the sugar level in bubble tea and that she only took the drink once a month.

“Of course we can’t deny that the sugar level is high. I don’t drink it regularly, not every day. Once a month is okay. And we must balance it by taking plain water as well,” said Amalina.

Thirty-year-old Shawn Soo said it was okay to drink bubble tea once or twice a week.

For May Long Poo, 68, her age deters her from enjoying bubble tea frequently.

“I am old so I just drink a little, but I like the bubble in the tea. It’s very tasty,” she said.

Yesterday Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad advised consumers to avoid food and drinks that have excessively high sugar content such as bubble tea.

He said the sugar content in one serving of bubble tea is three times the recommended daily intake of eight teaspoons.

“We want consumers to be responsible and not expose their children to food and drinks like this, including bubble tea,” he said.

However his ministry has not taken steps to introduce the sugar tax on the beverage to discourage high sugar consumption.

Distributors, meanwhile, told The Malaysian Insight that not all bubble teas are loaded with sugar.

The owner of Feng Cha, M.K. Chin,  said his products had reduced sugar and had “healthy sugar” such as rock sugar and brown sugar.

“For our premium brands, we use rock sugar and not the normal (white) sugar. Don’t worry, a good bubble tea uses rock sugar,” the owner of the one-month old business said.

The Whale owner Danny Ng, 26, said his products also had less sugar as well as “healthy sugar”.

“Our products are less sweet than others. We use brown sugar and we concentrate on taste, not sweetness. We also use fresh milk. Even our straws are environment-friendly,” he said. – July 26, 2019.