After Capital Bra and Haftbefehl, rapper Shirin David has also brought out her own iced tea with «DirTea». Why is this a trend in the scene, what’s in it and how (un)healthy is the hip drink really?
Admittedly, the German rappers made a really smart move with their iced tea. Firstly, they fill a relatively small niche, and secondly, the drink is so cheap to produce that there is a huge profit margin. With success: The fans – especially children and young people – slurp «BraTee» (from Capital Bra) and «HafTea» (from Haftbefehl) as much as they can. Now rapper Shirin David has also jumped on the ice tea train with «DirTea». What’s in it? How healthy or unhealthy is the drink and does it really have anything to do with tea?
These ingredients are in «DirTea» by Shirin David
Shirin David’s «DirTea» (allusion to dirtyso dirty) comes in three flavors: peach, cotton candy, and blueberry.
Ingredients Peach (WetPeach)
Ingredients: water, sugar, peach juice (2%) from peach juice concentrate, black tea extract (0.24%), acidifier citric acid, natural flavor, acidity regulator trisodium citrate
33 calories per 100 milliliters and 7.8 grams of sugar
Ingredients Cotton Candy (Candy Shop)
Ingredients: water, sugar, acidifier citric acid, flavoring, acidity regulator trisodium citrate, white tea extract (0.1%), coloring concentrate of sweet potatoes and carrots
36 calories per 100 milliliters and 8.6 grams of sugar
Ingredients Blueberry (Busty Blueberry)
Ingredients: water, sugar, blueberry juice from blueberry juice concentrate (1%), elderberry juice from elderberry juice concentrate, acidifier, citric acid, natural flavor, black tea extract (0.12%), acidity regulator trisodium citrate
32 calories per 100 milliliters and 7.7 grams of sugar
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«DirTea» by Shirin David is one thing above all: a sugar bomb
A can of «DirTea» contains 500 milliliters and thus contains 180 calories and 43 grams of pure sugar. The German Society for Nutrition (dge) recommends a maximum of 50 grams of sugar per day.1 That would be more or less done with one can and experience has shown that this is not the only source of sugar of the day. Incidentally, if the limit is exceeded permanently, there is a risk not only of type 2 diabetes, but also of fatty liver, intestinal problems and concentration problems (FITBOOK reported).
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Is acidity regulator trisodium citrate an ingredient of concern?
Otherwise, the list of ingredients reads quite «natural», albeit with juices from concentrates. Apart from trisodium citrate, very few should have heard of it. Trisodium citrate or sodium citrate is considered harmless in small amounts. With larger amounts, the intestine absorbs unwanted metals such as aluminum, lead or radionuclides more easily. However, there is no danger with «DirTea» by Shirin David. However, the effect on the enamel is problematic. Constantly drinking ice tea can lead to tooth erosion and this is irreversible. 2
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And what about tea?
Tea is considered healthy and white tea in particular is said to prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer or dementia and help with migraines (FITBOOK reported). With a sad tea extract content of 0.1 or 0.2 percent, the main question is what “DirTea” has to do with tea. In truth: nothing. For comparison, the «BraTee» from Capital Bra with 89 percent directly brewed black tea looks like the result of a real tea ceremony, but is less suitable for younger children due to the high natural caffeine content (with just as much sugar).
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Conclusion
With «DirTea», Shirin David has brought a highly processed sugar water onto the market, which rightly received a bright red E on the Nutriscore.3 This means: poor nutritional quality and empty calories. Last but not least, can packaging is anything but sustainable and environmentally friendly and therefore no longer up to date. Conclusion: The «DirtTea» is actually more dirty than tea – in several respects.