| By Joy Fang A BUBBLE-TEA drinker was surprised when told yesterday by staff of a bubble-tea outlet that he could not have "pearls" in his tea. The customer, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ang, visited popular bubble tea chain Koi Cafe's Illuma outlet in the afternoon and ordered a large cup of tea with extra "pearls" – chewy morsels made with tapioca. The self-employed 34-year-old was then told that there were no "pearls" available as they were being tested by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA). He reported the incident on Stomp yesterday. "I'm a little concerned about whether the 'pearls' contain any plastics or chemicals," he told my paper. Earlier this month, AVA issued a recall and suspended the import of three Taiwanese brands of juices used in bubble tea after they were found to contain the banned plasticiser diethylhexyl phthalate, commonly used to soften or increase the flexibility of PVC items. A check with three Koi Cafe outlets revealed that the "pearls" had been unavailable at every one of the chain's outlets for about three days. A staff member told my paper that the chain had voluntarily sent the "pearls" for checks, just to be safe. He added that the chain is waiting for a response from AVA. The process may take at least three days to a week. Other bubble-tea outlets have also asked AVA to test their drinks. The Gong Cha chain sent all its "pearls" and juices to the authority for testing two weeks ago. The batch was found to be unaffected, a staff member said. A spokesman for AVA said the testing of imported tapioca "pearls" used in bubble tea is part of a "routine surveillance programme". "So far in 2011, several consignments have been found to contain excessive chemical preservatives...Products that have been tested to be unsatisfactory have been recalled for destruction," said the spokesman.
http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20110616-284320.html
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