Herbal teas are pouring down in buckets in Italian supermarkets. And it's definitely a good thing, as they help to drink more water, which is essential to maintain good health.
Hundreds of references promise additional health benefits, more or less attributable to the medicinal plants enclosed in the sachet. Prices are sometimes staggering, reaching over 100 euros/kg.
But how to navigate the shelves, and which products to choose? It is always useful to read the labels, especially the ingredient list. Learn to distinguish organic products from conventional ones and favor nature over chemistry. Our market survey.
Herbal teas in buckets
The wide variety of herbal teas and flavored beverages offered by the GDO (Large Organized Distribution), strictly speaking, reflects the offer of a limited group of operators. Also in the case of private label products private label, that is, distributor brand.
The brands most widespread in Italy are Sognid’oro by Star (owned by GBFoods, Spain), L’Angelica (Coswell spa, Bologna), Pompadour and Sir Winston (Teekanne group, Germany), Bonomelli (Montenegro group, Bologna), Lipton (Unilever).
Functional herbal teas and infusions
The offer is essentially divided into three segments:
– functional herbal teas, composed of mix of medicinal herbs, selected based on nutraceutical properties (e.g., relaxing, draining, slimming, etc.). Some products, as will be seen, also contain non-natural flavors,
– infusions are instead mixtures of herbs and extracts where only the flavor is promoted. There are many imaginative flavors, but in many cases, they derive from the addition of aromas (natural and/or synthetic), up to 8% of the product.
– flavored teas, also in decaffeinated version, with less lively availability.
THE HERBAL TEAS
Bonomelli, herbal teas with probiotics and prebiotics
Bonomelli is the most innovative brand in the herbal tea segment. In addition to the 'classic' functional ones, there are two product lines with prebiotics and probiotics, registered as food supplements:
– the Prebiotic is a herbal tea with 6% inulin, soluble dietary fiber, plus chicory and psyllium (2%). A blend useful to 'feed' the bacteria allied to health and promote eubiosis, i.e., the balance of the intestinal microbiota. Price over 140 euros/kg, with added natural flavors,
– herbal teas with probiotics, in turn, 'promote the balance of the intestinal flora'. The product is available in 3 versions, ‘After meal’, ‘Immune defenses’ and ‘De-bloating’. The latter with natural flavor. Price over 140 euros/kg.
The plus of the probiotic
The added bacterium in Bonomelli's herbal teas is Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086, a probiotic blend also known as GanedenBC 30.
Its characteristic peculiar is heat resistance. A plus which makes this bacterium usable even in foods subjected to cooking. This is not the case for the better known Lactobacillus e Bifidobacterium, which are indeed added to dairy products.
Previous studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of Bacillus coagulans on humans and animals. It has been successfully used in a study to produce functional durum wheat pasta. (1)
Sognid’oro, functional herbal teas
Sognid’oro by Star – a brand famous for chamomile, as the name suggests – has definitely expanded the offer.
Functional herbal teas, registered as dietary supplements, contain only herbs, seeds and natural flavors. The range includes 7 versions: Digestive, Draining, Fennel, Regularity, Relaxing, Slimming and Immune Defenses.
Natural flavors are added in Draining herbal teas (birch and pineapple), Slimming (fucus and bitter orange), Immune defenses (echinacea and papaya).
L’Angelica, functional herbal teas
The L’Angelica Herbal Institute boasts on the label the Made in Italy in the formula and preparation. Not also in the origin of the herbs, like many others.
For the 11 functional herbal teas classic – labeled with ‘the recipe for wellness’ – highlights the absence of flavors and extracts. Flavors, on the other hand, are found in some products of the new lines, below.
L’Angelica, synthetic aromas and unclear labels
THE HERBAL TEAS ‘Emozioni al cacao’, created by L’Angelica together with master chocolatier Mirco della Vecchia, also contain synthetic flavors in the ‘Cacao, coffee and almond’ version. The same applies to the 3 teas in the ‘Le emozioni di caffè’ series.
The ‘Superfood Herbal Teas’, however, have unclear labels. Vanilla is indeed highlighted on the packaging but does not appear in the ingredient list of both references ‘Matcha vanilla’ draining and ‘Moringa, ginger and vanilla’ deflating.
Pompadour, black mark in the information
Pompadour (Tekanne) offers about a hundred products, all available for purchase on the producer’s website, which however does not indicate the price per kg (around 70 euros) and sometimes not even the ingredient list. Instead mandatory.
Organic is available in 5 functional teas. Nespresso format capsules are available for 2 functional herbal teas, Digestive and Relax.
THE INFUSIONS
Sognid’oro, ‘natural’ only in dreams
The concept of ‘natural’ evoked on some Sognid’oro infusions is sometimes misleading.
The ‘Orti e frutti’ line is presented as ‘exclusive blends created by skillfully balancing every ingredient to surprise you with a delicious taste and give you the wellness of nature’. But in 2 out of 3 versions – ‘Apple, carrot and ginger’ and ‘Orange, carrot and pineapple’ – synthetic flavors are present. Price over 70 euro/kg
The ‘Fruit Infusions’, in turn, contain 8% artificial flavors in 2 out of 4 cases. In Blueberry and Goji, for example, ‘the intense undergrowth notes of blueberry, combined with the pleasant sweetness of goji berries’ are more easily attributed to the 8% artificial flavors than to the homeopathic doses of blueberries (0.6%) and goji (0.5%).
Likewise the Delizie & dried fruit line – in the infusion ‘Pistachio and almond with lemon peel’ – it strengthens the ‘the piquant taste of pistachio’ and ‘the sweetness of almond’ with synthetic aromas. Priced at 65 euro/kg
Pompadour, flavors at breakfast for the little ones?
Pompadour suggests administering some infusions at breakfast even to the little ones:
– Berries and vitamins. With berry aroma. Contains small amounts of vitamins. It is therefore proposed as ‘ideal to accompany breakfast even for the little ones’. Price 40 euro/kg,
– Red fruits at breakfast. With strawberry and raspberry aroma. On the website: ‘Thanks to the natural sweetness of strawberries and raspberries this infusion will conquer the whole family.. Price 58 euros
The range is completed with the infusion ‘Italian Lemon, with Italian lemons’, but above all with – non-natural – aromas of lemon, honey (60 euro/kg). And ‘Ginger turmeric’, with this time natural aromas of honey (5%) and lemon.
Bonomelli, infusions and dried fruit
Dried fruit, or nuts, from Noberasco is included by Bonomelli in the 2 teas ‘Tasty infusions’. With a riddle about caramel, mentioned on the label but not among the ingredients. Prices around 95 euro/kg.
The aromas, strictly natural, then abound in the other Bonomelli infusion lines:
– Fruity infusions, 8 flavors with 10% natural aromas not further specified, priced from 50 to 80 euro/kg,
– Special infusions, 5 flavors ‘100% natural for small moments of daily pleasure'. With 10% natural flavors in the 'Cocoa and mint' flavour. Price 103 euros/kg
Flavored tea
Tea has to contend with the ruthless competition of new products. It is therefore revisited, with the addition of a variety of aromas – natural and not – that horrify enthusiasts.
Star Tea offers the ‘fruit juice flavored tea’, enthusiastically accompanied by the claim ‘When tea meets fruit!’ and ‘Intense fruit taste’.
In reality, the taste comes from synthetic aromas. In Lemon Taste tea, the ingredients are in fact tea, aromas [not natural, editor’s note], powdered lemon juice (1.04%)In that 'Peach with fruit juice', tea, flavors, peach powder juice 0.77%.
Sir Winston (Pompadour) boasts a caffeine extraction technique that does not use solvents. In flavored tea, non-natural flavors abound. 96 euros per kg.
Twinings in the flavored black tea with red fruits offers a mix composed of 88% black tea, 12% red fruit flavors. 66 euros/kg.
Lipton (Unilever) on the website web celebrates many flavored products, without however indicating the ingredients. In stores we find a 'Black tea with peach... with pieces of peach' and 'thenatural ingredients', which in fact, besides black tea, contains natural flavors and pieces of peach (2%). 63 euros/kg.
Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) Konuray G, Erginkaya Z. Potential Use of Bacillus coagulans in the Food Industry. Foods. 2018;7(6):92. doi:10.3390/foods7060092 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6025323/#B3-foods-07-00092
Professional journalist since January 1995, worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of investigative reports on food, published the book 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
