I would like to apologize to the group for my high signal to noise
ratio lately (IE Tea to BS ratio). I will cease and desist
immediately.

Now back to the matters at hand: How many insect parts are allowed in
a Bingcha, or conversely, how many tea leaves are allowed in a sample
of Poo Poo Puerh? Does anyone know if China has a similar document
establishing standards?



Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

How many insect parts are allowed in
a Bingcha

It's funny how the government rates the acceptability of foreign matter in food
substances, and we often have such standards as "0.3 mg of rat balls per pound
of oolong".

--
Eschew obfuscation!

Mike Petro wrote in message . ..

Now back to the matters at hand: How many insect parts are allowed in
a Bingcha, or conversely, how many tea leaves are allowed in a sample
of Poo Poo Puerh? Does anyone know if China has a similar document
establishing standards?


I have been on the sharp end of making tea for many years, and despite
tea being traditionally manufactured as an "agricultural product" I
have always taught that it should be produced as a food product: clean
and free of defects -and made to the standard expected. Food being
totally free of defects is of course an impossible dream, hence the
USDA listing (http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html) of allowable
defects for foodstuffs (Food Defect Action Levels) mentioned in an
adjoining thread last week

While this list makes gruesome reading for those fond of canned
salmon, dried peas, or coffee beans (but without the allowable molds,
maggots and rodent hairs) the USDA list does not specifically mention
tea (Camellia sinensis). Neither could I find, in my library of tea
data, any defect contamination limits for tea - though I do have a
small collection of examples of extraneous matter removed from
commercial teas* - no official advice was found as to the "acceptable"
levels of these defects.

So I posed the question to the USDA and they answered somewhat
circuitously:

"Dear Sir,

No defect action levels have been established for defects in teas.
General requirements apply however: foods, including teas, must be
clean and free of deleterious substances. The fact that a defect
action level for a certain food and a particular defect has not been
established does not
mean that the food is exempt from these general requirements.

Industry Outreach Team 023
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Food and Drug
Administration"


It would indeed be interesting to know if the Chinese have better
defined standards than the USA for contamination of tea.

Nigel at Teacraft


* As percentage of defects seen: stones and grit 27%, textile thread
20%, human hair (5cm ong) 13%, seeds 13%, metal pieces 13%, bamboo
pieces 7%, insect parts 7%

"Nigel at Teacraft" wrote in message
om...
Mike Petro wrote in message
. ..

Now back to the matters at hand: How many insect parts are allowed in
a Bingcha, or conversely, how many tea leaves are allowed in a sample
of Poo Poo Puerh? Does anyone know if China has a similar document
establishing standards?


I have been on the sharp end of making tea for many years, and despite
tea being traditionally manufactured as an "agricultural product" I
have always taught that it should be produced as a food product: clean
and free of defects -and made to the standard expected. Food being
totally free of defects is of course an impossible dream, hence the
USDA listing (http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html) of allowable
defects for foodstuffs (Food Defect Action Levels) mentioned in an
adjoining thread last week

While this list makes gruesome reading for those fond of canned
salmon, dried peas, or coffee beans (but without the allowable molds,
maggots and rodent hairs) the USDA list does not specifically mention
tea (Camellia sinensis). Neither could I find, in my library of tea
data, any defect contamination limits for tea - though I do have a
small collection of examples of extraneous matter removed from
commercial teas* - no official advice was found as to the "acceptable"
levels of these defects.

So I posed the question to the USDA and they answered somewhat
circuitously:

"Dear Sir,

No defect action levels have been established for defects in teas.
General requirements apply however: foods, including teas, must be
clean and free of deleterious substances. The fact that a defect
action level for a certain food and a particular defect has not been
established does not
mean that the food is exempt from these general requirements.

Industry Outreach Team 023
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Food and Drug
Administration"


It would indeed be interesting to know if the Chinese have better
defined standards than the USA for contamination of tea.

Nigel at Teacraft


* As percentage of defects seen: stones and grit 27%, textile thread
20%, human hair (5cm ong) 13%, seeds 13%, metal pieces 13%, bamboo
pieces 7%, insect parts 7%

Is there any standard for purity in tea?
--
Karen
"Are you two in for the parade?"

Mike Petro wrote:
I would like to apologize to the group for my high signal to noise
ratio lately (IE Tea to BS ratio). I will cease and desist

Hey, it's an election year, I grade student essays, and I have three kids.
More signal less noise is okay with me.

Now back to the matters at hand: How many insect parts are allowed in
a Bingcha, or conversely, how many tea leaves are allowed in a sample
of Poo Poo Puerh? Does anyone know if China has a similar document
establishing standards?


My distinguished colleague and insectobibulant wm recently sent me the e-mail

A short while ago a small, well-aged beetle of some sort floated to
the top of my tuocha.

It didn't keep me from drinking his pue erh (in which any beetles, were they
present, had specific gravity greater than one) or, apparently, him either.

And I wouldn't set great store on Chinese government standards. A common
phrase with respect to any limit on commerce is "Is your stomach too full?".
Why communist governments should nearly universally ignore the health of
their people and their environment is beyond me. Of course, a prominent
country with a market-driven economy appears intent on disemboweling its
FDA and EPA as well (for purposes of argument, I am speaking of Andorra).

I have bought organic Chinese tea from Upton's. I have wondered whether
it has any fewer residues than nonorganic.

Rick.

Rick Chappell wrote in message ...


I have bought organic Chinese tea from Upton's. I have wondered whether
it has any fewer residues than nonorganic.


Its a moot point akin to the numbering of pin head dancing angels - is
the presence of insects in tea to be welcomed as indicative of a high
level of organic husbandry? (if pesticides had been used the leaves
would be free of insects) or of petrochemical based chemical
husbandry? (something pretty nasty must have killed off those bugs on
the leaf).

Trouble is that insects get in all through the process, not just
during field growth. They arrive at the factory on green leaf, they
drop off lights onto fermenting leaf, and they enter stored tea.
Realistically all the insects that enter the process prior to drying
have at least been heat sterilised. Arrival thereafter poses more of a
microbial hazard to the tea consumer.

But that's insects (and insect parts). "Residues" are a different case
and are very tightly controlled under any decent organic certification
scheme. Residues are classified into herbicide and pesticide residues
(broadly any chemical nasticide whose presence is monitored and whose
allowable levels are tightly regulated by most countries' authorities,
notwithstanding whether the tea or food is certified as organic or
not) and heavy metal contamination - lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.
(much less well regulated in tea, with most official bodies publishing
nothing specific for tea, only general levels for some foodstuffs).

Rest assured, however; your organic tea will be virtually pesticide
and heavy metal free, as will its occasional insect guests.

Nigel at Teacraft

"Frayed" wrote in message hlink.net...


Is there any standard for purity in tea?

None that I know of.

Various governments have various quality standards, mostly based on
the International Organisation for Standardisation specification ISO
3720 (Black tea definition and basic requirements).

ISO 3720 relates mainly to chemical and physical analysis of tea, but
its minimum standards are so low that at least 90% of the world's
production easily fits within it. A standard for tea purity per se
does not exist.

Nigel at Teacraft

Umm...reading the introduction makes the point clear that these
amounts are not considered to be the acceptable levels. These are the
absolute limits, above which action will be taken. In addition
inspectors are not bound by these amounts. Any condition they see as
deleterious can be a reason for action.

I guess these standards are published so the legal system has
something to chew on during its deliberations on any case involving
these issues....more than anything else.
If I were a producer, my goal would be Zero defects. Even though
practically unattainable, the product would be the better for the
effort. .

We can never expect commercial production to rise to the same
quality/purity as we do the small, manual operations. This is, after
all, the reasoning behind the search for the most excellent producers.
In this world there is Good, Fast and Cheap and you can really only
have two of those at a time.

"Nigel at Teacraft" wrote in message
om...
| Mike Petro wrote in message
. ..
|
| Now back to the matters at hand: How many insect parts are allowed
in
| a Bingcha, or conversely, how many tea leaves are allowed in a
sample
| of Poo Poo Puerh? Does anyone know if China has a similar document
| establishing standards?
|
|
| I have been on the sharp end of making tea for many years, and
despite
| tea being traditionally manufactured as an "agricultural product" I
| have always taught that it should be produced as a food product:
clean
| and free of defects -and made to the standard expected. Food being
| totally free of defects is of course an impossible dream, hence the
| USDA listing (http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html) of
allowable
| defects for foodstuffs (Food Defect Action Levels) mentioned in an
| adjoining thread last week
|
| While this list makes gruesome reading for those fond of canned
| salmon, dried peas, or coffee beans (but without the allowable
molds,
| maggots and rodent hairs) the USDA list does not specifically
mention
| tea (Camellia sinensis). Neither could I find, in my library of tea
| data, any defect contamination limits for tea - though I do have a
| small collection of examples of extraneous matter removed from
| commercial teas* - no official advice was found as to the
"acceptable"
| levels of these defects.
|
| So I posed the question to the USDA and they answered somewhat
| circuitously:
|
| "Dear Sir,
|
| No defect action levels have been established for defects in teas.
| General requirements apply however: foods, including teas, must be
| clean and free of deleterious substances. The fact that a defect
| action level for a certain food and a particular defect has not been
| established does not
| mean that the food is exempt from these general requirements.
|
| Industry Outreach Team 023
| Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Food and Drug
| Administration"
|
|
| It would indeed be interesting to know if the Chinese have better
| defined standards than the USA for contamination of tea.
|
| Nigel at Teacraft
|
|
| * As percentage of defects seen: stones and grit 27%, textile thread
| 20%, human hair (5cm ong) 13%, seeds 13%, metal pieces 13%, bamboo
| pieces 7%, insect parts 7%