Study finds evaluates health benefits of tea products

Shiming Li from WellGen presented research about the analytical method for measuring polyphenols and the polyphenol content in ready-to-drink (RTD) tea beverages at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting last month.

The research analyzed the amount and content of polyphenols in 49 commercially available beverages, specifically bottled RTD tea, as part of the development process for medical food products for diabetics.

The team aims to "better understand the commercial products that are alleged to be sources of antioxidants and specifically polyphenols as we develop our own products."

The company says bottled tea is a $2.2 billion consumer market yet the tea polyphenol content in the bottled tea beverages is low relative to the expected consumer health benefits.