Toxic Lipton Tea Recalled from Supermarkets

Yes! You read that correctly. Lipton, the tea company established by a Scottish grocer over 100 years ago (long since part of consumer goods giant Unilever) has recalled a batch of its Tieguanyin tea from supermarket shelves in China.

According to the China Daily, the results of a national spot check on food quality which started in July were published on Wednesday. Of 58 oolong tea samples tested, 19 failed the national standard, including Lipton’s Tieguanyin tea.

All were found to contain above the permitted amount of potentially harmful rare-earth minerals, set at 2.0 milligrams per KG. The China Daily noted that rare-earth can remain in the system and build to harmful levels. "Experiments conducted on animals have suggested that an excessive intake of rare earth may trigger liver and bone damage," according to Tan Guijun, deputy head of the nutrition department at Tianjin First Center Hospital.

A day after the results were published, Unilever came out and admitted that they had recalled and destroyed a batch of Tieguanyin back on August 5, according to The Shanghaiist.

This isn’t the first time Unilever has recalled its tea products in China. During the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, Unilever recalled tea milk tea powder in Hong Kong and Macau after it was found to have traces of melamine.

Tieguanyin tea, usually translated as “Iron Buddha”, is a premium oolong (semi-processed) tea originating from Fujian Province. Rare-earth elements are sometimes added to tree saplings to help them combat drought, according to blog chatter surrounding the scandal.