• “Bubble tea” is a drink originating in Taiwan, which takes its name from the tapioca pearls that are added to cold tea.

  • With the export of this very fashionable drink, the choice has grown: adding milk, syrups, flavored powders or sugars often makes it an ultra-caloric pleasure.

    Replacing soda with “bubble” is therefore not necessarily a health advantage.

  • Consume this drink knowing that it is very sweet and sometimes full of colorings does not pose a problem… as long as it remains occasional.

“I calmed down a bit. Before, I drank "bubble tea" twice a week, I switched to one every ten days, admits Marie, 26 years old. Between the price and the plastic, I thought it was a lot. Shortly after 5 pm, the young woman leaves Enchanthé Bubble Tea, rue Daguerre (14th arrondissement of Paris), with a greedy gaze and a large orange goblet in her hand. Like Marie, many young people have succumbed to the passion for "bubble tea", this drink born in Taiwan in the 1980s. And exported all over the world, especially in France for two years.

But what is really in these colorful tumblers popping up in the streets and in the mouths of teens?

At the base, cold tea and tapioca pearls, a mixture of cassava roots with a caramelized taste and gum.

But the panoply of "bubble tea" has been enriched with tastes, textures and varied colors: some add syrups, aromas, milk - vegetable or cow -, sugar, "popping bobas", small fruit juice pearls, pieces of fruit.

Enough to make it the most fun and "instagramable" drink

possible…

Sugar and lots of syrup

If its “gluten-free” and “natural” side may be obvious at first glance and highlighted on certain storefronts, it is better to be wary. “This could be a healthy drink knowing that it is largely tea, which provides antioxidants, underlines Vanessa Bedjaï-Haddad, dietician nutritionist in Paris. The limit is theine, energizing. This is more or less of a problem depending on the age of the consumer and the time of day when it is drunk. "

But what worries this nutritionist more is the cocktail of sugars, of which we are not always aware… “We add sugar, more or less, and syrup, a lot and very concentrated!

“To the point that some claim that this drink can have more calories than soda.

Indeed, the most popular soft drink on the planet contains 44 kcal per 100ml… against 100 kcal for a “bubble” made from milk and flavored powder.

“It's as if you added juice and tapioca pearls to a soda, and therefore carbohydrates,” continues Vanessa Bejdaï-Haddad.

It's slow sugar, so it'll stall you more than a glass of syrup.

Another difference: on the volume side, you can drink a "bubble" of 500 ml, or even 700, while a can contains 330 ml.

It all depends on the uses

Complicated, therefore, to have a precise opinion on this drink, totally customizable, both in terms of volume and ingredients. Another parameter: it all depends on the use made of it by adept teenagers. If it's for a snack and it replaces a pain au chocolat, why not? If it is to accompany an already very unbalanced meal, it is less advisable. “It's always the same problem with sugary drinks: we don't need them, but as long as it remains occasional, it's fine, summarizes the nutritionist. It is neither better nor worse than a soda. On the other hand, the "bubble tea" avoids the acidity which attacks the digestive mucosa and the teeth ”.

The catch is when these drinks replace water and become a daily companion. But unlike soda, which is often present in the fridge, “bubble tea” remains a shared outing. "It looks like it's almost nicer to take a selfie with it to post on the networks than to drink it," quips the dietician, who sees hordes of young people lining up in front of the many "bubble tea" shops in her neighborhood. . I find a lot of them half full in the trash cans. Do people consume it regularly? I don't see it in the dietary records of my young patients. "" Given the price [more than 5 euros], it's a festive drink, like you can make an ice cream ", adds Amande Valladier, manager of the My Bubble tea site. For Marie, the "bubble" has neither the image of a health asset,nor a slip… "I take my" bubble tea "without sugar, on the other hand I love the texture of the lychee pearls. But I admit that I don't really know how it's done… ”

The problem of additives

Precisely, these artificial flavors and these fruit pearls hide some nasty surprises.

“The fact that it is very caloric, we can see it when tasting, nuance Amande Valladier.

On the other hand, dyes are more problematic.

"By wanting to offer kits to make her homemade" bubble tea "with organic products, this manager ran into a difficulty.

“Fruit flavors without coloring are not the norm.

"

Traders are careful not to mark the list of ingredients on the cups. On the other hand, you can find it on the large syrup cans that perfume these neon colored drinks. "E133 (blue) is mainly present in certain purple taro powders, associated with a red dye," she lists. I also encountered during my sourcing work E129 (red), E124 (red) and E110 (yellow), used in certain flavored powders, fruit pearls or syrups. "However," many contain certain compounds suspected of having an action on hyperactivity in children. And are never displayed. "

Same problem with the tapioca pearls, however more recommendable than “popping bobas”.

"Tapioca pearls, in themselves, are a starch that provides carbohydrates, it's gluten-free, rather digestible", notes Vanessa Bedjaï-Haddad.

But by studying all the compounds in a sachet she got to make her homemade drink, she had a little disappointment: “there are colorings, corn starch, preservatives and flavors.

"

A drink to make at home?

Making your own “bubble” is an option if you want to reappropriate the concept and the recipe - more fun than healthy - without breaking your balance or your ELP.

Several sites surf the wave and offer kits to make this drink at home.

"The best way to consume a healthy bubble tea is to do it yourself: we have the list of ingredients while it is opaque when we go to a chain," continues Amande, who offers kits on mybubbletea.

You can get rid of flavored powder, where there are a lot of additives, and sweeten it more or less.

»And add mint, lemon, agave syrup ...

“Without forgetting to chew the tapioca pearls well!” Laughs the nutritionist.

Because swallowed with a large straw, they can swell in the stomach.

"

Lille

Lille: What is Bubble tea, this drink that frightens young Lille people?

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