Plastic in Teabags

by Hilary / Friday, 11 October 2019 / Published in Lessons on Tea, Production

You may have recently read an article about the adverse aspects of plastic particles in so called ‘silken or silk’ tea bags.

As far back as 2013 we raised our concern about these bags and the false claims being made by some tea companies about the materials used as well as the unfounded claim that they produce a better cup of tea.

A blog by me on our web site on 7 Nov 2013 and 6 May 2015 raised our concerns and these can be read on our website following the links above which will take you to our Stories of Tea.

Apart from the plastic particle aspects, these plastic or silken bags do not readily break down (despite claims of being bio degradable) like the traditional paper tea bags which Elmstock use.

We do produce a black and green tea bio degradable pyramid tea bag for one of our customers who wanted it and we do offer it to people who want it.

However these sales constitute less than 0.02% of our sales and we plan to discontinue the sale of these items in light of the controversy, after discussion with our customer.

We take this opportunity to remind drinkers of good tea that using leaf tea is the best way to enjoy this healthy and pleasant beverage.

If you do not want to use a teapot, use a stainless steel infuser (costs about $10). Toss the infused leaves into your plants-they will love you for it.

By using an infuser you not only get the real flavor of good tea but can also control the strength of the tea.

Also contrary to common perception using leaf tea is generally cheaper per serve than using teabgs!

However, we concede that some customers such as hotels, offices and cafes may require the use of tea bags because of the nature of their operations.

We reiterate that Elmstock tea bags that use the traditional paper tea bags do not have the plastic contamination referred to.

Elmstock tea bags sales constitute 42% of the company’s turnover and leaf teas 58%. This is in contrast to the national sales of over 90% tea bags and 10% leaf tea.

We hope you will continue to enjoy the experience of drinking good tea.

Tagged under: Plastic, silk, teabags

About Hilary

Almost 40 years ago I realised that the quality of teas being imported into Australia were of poor quality. The proliferation of teabags and a pricing regime enforced by the major supermarket chains had led to a noticeable drop in quality. Elmstock Tea Company was born out of this background in 1979. I had started my working life at 17 in the Tea Plantation/Accounts Department of a large company in Colombo. My family had connections to the tea trade and prior to that coffee and sugar plantations in Ceylon since the 1840s – an unbroken and direct link of over six generations. Many of the plantations started by or managed by my great grandparents still produce some of the teas we buy today! After migrating to Australia in 1972 I graduated from Curtin University and qualified as an accountant (CPA). I worked and managed large public companies involved in the wool trade for many years and was also involved with the listing of public companies on the ASX. Elmstock have been wholesaling premium quality teas and herbal infusions sourced from the best plantations for almost 40 years. We decided over twenty five years ago not to deal with the major supermarket chains as we did not want to compromise tea quality and revert to the ‘mediocrity of the pack’ which is entirely price driven.

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