FDA Recognises Tea as a Healthy Beverage Item

The U.S. FDA updated its definition of “healthy” foods and allowed some tea products to enter the list. These are unsweetened teas, tea bags, and bottled teas that include less than 5 calories for a 12-ounce serving.

This update lets tea come up as a healthy choice for the masses. They are mainly promoting teas with flavan-3-ols—a plant compound known for promoting heart and metabolic health. This compound is mainly found in green and black tea. So, if one is consuming it daily, they are aligning themselves with the daily needs of flavan oil (around 400-600 mg of flavan-3-ols). Some studies have found a 10% lower risk of death from heart disease when individuals over 65 consume an 8-ounce cup of tea each time.

So, this was the reason to update the healthy label criteria by the FDA. The F&B sector has to meet these specific limits to get this label that also encourages nutrition science and beverage consumption.

Peter Googi (President of the Tea Council of the USA) was impressed by this FDA’s recognition. Now, all this will help consumers make good choices about calorie-free beverages, especially when it comes to picking up a tea bag to include in their daily routine.