Nigel wrote:
On Apr 26, 12:10 am, RF wrote:
Then that story about the tannic acid in tea must
have been either a
communist plot or the British Dairy Industry was
trying to sell more milk ;-)

Just to reiterate on this thread and to return to the original
context:

The original "story" did not mention tannic acid - it mentioned
catechins (antioxidant flavanols).

Black tea - the one that milk is generally added to - contains
oxidised catechins (theaflavins) and polymerized theaflavins
(thearubigins) - these are also powerful and beneficial antioxidants.
Tannic acid is not an antioxidant, neither is it a component of
Camellia sinensis tea.

The German study indicated a beneficial and measurable vein dilation
at the measured site (the hand if I remember correctly) due to a
recent intake of black tea, but this effect was reduced if milk was
added.

However, the German study used a very small test group, used an all
female test group, used tea at German drinking strength (weak), and
used milk at 3 or 4x the normal (British) level. I would take this
limited evidence as inconclusive and it certainly did not justify, as
the BBC and other media proclaimed, a blanket condemnation of the use
of milk in tea.

And just to summarize - nobody mentioned tannic acid.

For the record, I found the definition of tannic acid in /The Random
House Dictionary/ to be consistent with that in /The Merck Index/.

Where did you find the formula for "Acidum Tannicum" (C14 H10 O9)?
/The Merck Index/ calls that "digallic acid" and says that in
"pharmaceutical literature the name digallic acid is frequently confused
with tannic acid," and under "tannic acid" says "Incorrectly 'digallic
acid.'" So it appears to me that you're either unaware of the confusion
or trying to perpetuate it for some reason.

--
Marshall Price of Miami
Known to Yahoo as d021317c