Trend Drink Bubble Tea: Health Risk for Small Children
Starch balls can make their way into the respiratory tract and impair breathing
Little balls of starch can accidentally enter the lungs when drinking bubble tea. These bubbles, which are sucked up through a broad straw, are roughly 10 to 15 mm in diameter. They have a soft, rubbery consistency and are filled with a liquid.
The process of breathing foreign bodies into the lungs is referred to as “aspiration”. Various factors contribute towards aspiration accidents of this kind, one of which is sucking through a straw, because the epiglottis is lifted by the vacuum that is created in the pharyngeal cavity. When this happens, the trachea, which is normally closed when swallowing, is opened so that liquids or solids can easily find their way into the lungs. In addition to this, it is known that foreign bodies the size of peanuts are easily aspirated into the lungs, especially by children aged up to four years. The little balls used in bubble tea are of a similar size.
To date, no aspiration accidents caused by bubble tea have been reported to the BfR, although it should be noted that accidents of this kind are not systematically recorded in Germany. A health risk for small children is foreseeable, however. Reports in the press about the first accidents involving bubble tea have not yet been verified by the BfR, but they are considered plausible. For this reason, it should be pointed out wherever bubble tea is sold that the bubbles can easily find their way into the lungs when sucked up through a straw, especially by children aged up to four years. In addition to the corresponding notes on the products or in the product advertising, pictograms illustrating the danger of aspiration into the lungs are also conceivable.
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