Is iced brown sugar added to milk tea? Experts: Ice brown sugar ≠ liquid non-dairy creamer

Review expert: Wang Xuejiang, professor at Capital Medical University

Recently, a reviewer found that many milk tea brands used "Ice Brown" as the base milk in their raw materials after testing the products of several leading milk tea brands. In the video, he said that the ingredients of Ice Brown are similar to non-dairy creamer, so Ice Brown is a "technological milk". So, are Ice Brown and non-dairy creamer the same thing? Is Ice Brown healthy and safe?

Ice Brown is not non-dairy creamer

Is Ice Brown just liquid non-dairy creamer? Actually, it is not. In layman's terms, Ice Brown is the base milk for a cup of milk tea and is a blended dairy product.

In terms of the nature of raw materials and health effects, ice brownie and non-dairy creamer are two completely different food ingredients.

Image source: Ice Brown Manufacturer

From the perspective of ingredients, Ice Brown ≠ Non-dairy Creamer. The first three ingredients of Ice Brown are: drinking water, edible oil products (non-hydrogenated), concentrated milk (raw milk); the first three ingredients of Non-dairy Creamer are: starch sugar, vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated), whey powder.

It can be seen that there are obvious differences between Ice Brown and Non-Dairy Creamer in terms of raw materials and content, and they are not the same product at all.

Is Ice Brown healthy?

Some experts pointed out that Ice Brown is usually a blended dairy product made from a mixture of milk, vegetable milk and fat. It generally does not contain trans fatty acids, and its fat component is mostly animal fats. Even if vegetable fats are used, as long as they comply with national standards, they are within the safety range.

In the actual production process of milk tea, tea base, milk or other liquids are added in a certain proportion to dilute the concentration. According to the actual proportion of ice brown in a cup of milk tea, after drinking a large cup of milk tea, the fat intake from the base milk is only 1.31g/100g, which is lower than a large cup of whole milk.

Why add iced brown sugar to milk tea?

Some new tea drink entrepreneurs said that iced brown is added for taste. A cup of tea usually contains 66% tea base, 19% milk, and iced brown milk only accounts for 8%. In the era of powdered milk tea, non-dairy creamer was added to avoid milk and produce milky flavor, which is a cost-saving measure.

According to the agency's calculations, the cost of using Ice Brown is the same as that of using fresh milk, and the cost is only less than 1 yuan higher than that of fresh milk. In contrast, the cost of using non-dairy creamer is only 1.01 yuan, which is 4-5 times the cost of milk and fresh milk.

What are trans fatty acids?

Trans fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids containing trans double bonds with high melting points and thermodynamic stability.

Trans fatty acids are divided into trans monounsaturated fatty acids and trans polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are non-essential fatty acids for the human body. There are two main sources of trans fatty acids in food: natural sources and food processing sources.

Trans fatty acids have serious adverse effects on the growth and development of infants and young children, and can increase the viscosity of human blood, which can easily lead to blood clots. In addition, trans fatty acids are not easily digested by the human body and can easily accumulate in the abdomen, leading to obesity.

Are foods containing food additives unsafe?

In fact, food additives that meet national standards play the roles of preserving food, preventing spoilage, improving taste, and maintaining or enhancing nutritional value, and are an indispensable part of modern food.

Food additives ≠ illegal additives. Food additives that comply with national food safety standards are legal and safe, and we should view food additives rationally and scientifically.

There is no need to worry too much. When it comes to the selection of food additives, continuous exploration and pursuit of health is an irreversible trend.