The Boba Mania

For the past one year, many Malaysians have fallen into some state of mania where bubble teas (boba) are concerned. If you're wondering what the craze is all about, don't ask me. I have no idea. All I know is that people have been paying a lot of money to guzzle sugar.

This drink originated from Taiwan during the 1980s. The word 'boba' in Thai means chewy little pearls which are made from tapioca. Tapioca is derived from the cassava root. It is tasteless.

This bubble tea drink has a tea-base which is combined either with milk or fruit. It is then combined with the sweetened little tapioca balls. If it is milk tea, then powdered milk is used although fresh milk is the more famous ingredient.

Since the pearls are gluten-free and tasteless, they are mixed with brown sugar to give it flavour and the distinctive black colouring. The texture of the pearls are similar to gummy bears.

*picture taken from HERE

Click on The Hidden Sugars in Bubble Tea

Click on Brown Sugar Milk Tea is the Unhealthiest Milk Tea

Click on Boba Tea Has 2x More Sugar than Coke - 20 teaspoons!

Click on What's in My Bubble Tea?

Boba Health Concerns

*Back in May 2011, DEHP (which is a chemical plasticiser and potential carcinogen which is used to make plastic) was found in drinks and juice syrups in Taiwan. It became a huge scandal where the manufacturers were fined heavily. DEHP was then found in a syrup which was used to make bubble tea in Malaysia. 

Then in August 2012, scientists from the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH) in Germany analyzed bubble tea samples in a research project to look for allergenic substances. The result of their search found that the products contain styrene, acetophenone, and brominated substances, which can negatively affect health.^[***] The report was published by German newspaper Rheinische Post. 

In May 2013, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on the detection of maleic acid, an unapproved food additive, in some food products, including tapioca pearls. The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore conducted its own tests and found additional brands of tapioca pearls and some other starch-based products sold in Singapore were similarly affected.

In May 2019, approximately about 100 undigested tapioca pearls were found in the abdomen of a 14-year-old girl in Zhejiang province, China after she complained of constipation.

In July 2019, Singapore's Mount Alvernia Hospital warned that the sugar content of the bubble tea was too high. The risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease was high if one were to consume these drinks frequently. 

*taken from here

*picture taken from HERE

The boba mania at Sunway Pyramid.