Why promote addiction?

Unhealthy Beverage

Tea is set to be declared the National beverage of India. But is it really good for  health?

In a bid to honour the first Assamese tea planter and Sepoy Mutiny leader Maniram Dewan on his 212th birth anniversary, the Planning Commission of India announced that tea would be accorded the national drink status by April 2013.

Maniram was the country’s first indigenous tea planter who also took part in India’s struggle for the freedom movement.

He established tea gardens at Chinamara in Jorhat and at Singlou in Sibsagar district.

Maniram Dewan was hanged by the British in 1858 at Jorhat, for taking part in the Sepoy Mutiny and for ‘conspiring’ against the British government.

Amidst all the discussions on tea being made the national drink, has anybody thought about the amount of caffeine in it, which makes it a particularly unhealthy drink? The government has inadvertently promoted caffeine - also known as a mood enhancer.

Charu Dua, dietician and head of department in Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital says, “Tea is harmful. It reduces iron absorption. I would recommend green tea but not the usual one as it contains caffeine.”

She adds, “They could have made any dairy product like milk or lassi the national drink. Now that tea is to be made the national drink, it would be taught in schools and children ofcourse should not have tea.”

India is the largest producer and consumer of black tea in the world, with 83 per cent households consuming the beverage - considered to be the cheapest in the world after water. However, the industry still has to contend with problems of tapering growth.

With land no longer available for expanding production, India’s tea output has stagnated over the past few years. India produced more than 966 million kgs of tea in 2010-11 and the per capita consumption of tea is 718 grams per day.

Kaushik Bhattacharjee, assistant director, Darjeeling Tea Research and Management Association had all good things to say about tea as the national drink, “We get so much revenue from tea. It should have happened long time back.

We have more than 1000 hectares of big tea gardens and more than one lakh hectare of small tea gardens.” On being informed of its ill effects, Kaushik says, “I would recommend organic tea as it is good for health and aids functioning of the heart. I’d also emphasise on using less pesticides to grow tea.”

On the other hand, the decision hasn’t gone down well with milk producers who are demanding that the ‘honour’ should go to milk. Lassi (buttermilk) drinkers in Punjab also argue the distinction should go to the original Indian drink and not something which is a British legacy.

Amit Maheshwari, GM Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, India operations echoes the same lines as Kaushik, “It is already a national drink. It is the first thing in the morning that people go for. This will help boost tea, as it is known that people only prefer coffee when they go out. This will make tea young. Iced tea has been actively taken up by youth. So, it is a good news ofcourse.”